However, because few believed in Purgatory any more, the concept of what a ghost might be, was forced to change. By the middle of the seventeenth century, returning spirits were believed to be driven by personal need, rather than simply because they had not yet found their final destination. In the literature of the time, when ghosts appeared, it was usually to effect a change in our world. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost urges Hamlet to take revenge. Ghosts often appeared to right a wrong, or to frighten a guilty party into putting things right. And this view is still common today.
Evidence of ghosts appears in the seventeenth century printed pamphlets, and figured prominently in traditional British folk songs. Examples from the seventeenth century are Sweet William’s Ghost, The Wife of Usher’s Well, and The Unquiet Grave, all of which speak of dead lovers or children who return.
The twelvemonth and a day being up,
The dead began to speak:
“Oh who sits weeping on my grave,
And will not let me sleep?”
“’T is I, my love, sits on your grave,
And will not let you sleep;
For I crave one kiss of your clay-cold lips,
And that is all I seek.”
“You crave one kiss of my clay-cold lips,
But my breath smells earthy strong;
If you have one kiss of my clay-cold lips,
Your time will not be long.
- The Unquiet Grave
Ghosts might also give warnings or prophecies. Keith Thomas, in his book Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971), quotes examples of ghosts revealing the location of money or of crucial documents relating to property, especially after the turmoil of the English Civil War.
It was widely believed that spirits travelled in straight lines, and so could be trapped by labyrinths or mazes, and confused by crossroads. They also could not pass through water so, to prevent the deceased returning to haunt their old dwelling, holy water could be sprinkled in a circle around it. Superstition also led to corpses being carried with their feet facing away from the direction of their home so that they would not return.
Over the years many claim to have witnessed wisps of light or blue flames dancing along the old coffin routes to the village church, or hovering in burial grounds. When they appear they are said to foretell a death.
A well-known seventeenth century ghost associated with the Fanshawe family was the red-haired banshee who haunted the O’Briens of Rossmore in Ireland. She appeared at the bedroom window of Lady Ann Fanshawe, Kate’s aunt and, according to her diary, the spectre kept her awake all night with her terrible weeping, only disappearing at sunrise.
In the legend of The Wicked Lady, (see below) there are many sightings of Katherine Fanshawe (Kate) after her death, although most of these date from the Victorian era. Ralph Chaplin dies early on in the legend of The Wicked Lady, but I felt that his viewpoint was an important one and so I made the decision to write this book from the point of view of his ghost. His continuing influence and love for Kate can be felt in the third book of the trilogy, Lady of the Highway, (to follow in 2016), which tells Katherine Fanshawe’s story after Ralph’s death, and of course features Abigail too.
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Ralph Chaplin and the Real Lady Katherine Fanshawe (The Wicked Lady)
Lady Katherine Fanshawe really did exist. Katherine was born on 4th May 1634 into a wealthy family, the Ferrers. Tragically, her father, Knighton Ferrers, died two weeks before she was born, and her grandfather shortly after, leaving her the sole heir to a fortune.
A few years later her mother was married again, to the spendthrift and gambler Sir Simon Fanshawe. Unfortunately, Katherine’s mother died when she was only eight, leaving her at the mercy of the Fanshawe family. Sir Simon supported the Royalist cause and the King needed money to fund his army. Sir Simon conceived of a plan to marry off his nephew, Thomas Fanshawe, to the rich heiress, thus gaining control over Katherine’s wealth and land.
During much of the English Civil War Katherine’s uncle and husband were away fighting, and spent much of the latter part of the war in exile in France. Whilst researching this trilogy, the stories about Lady Katherine that I found really fascinating were the reports of her exploits as a notorious highwaywoman. What went on during her husband’s absence that would lead her to do the things she did? I decided there must be a long history, and that the answer could not be as simplistic as a lust for excitement.
There are no historical records about Ralph Chaplin, although his name always appears in the stories. He is widely believed to have been Lady Katherine’s lover, and to have been a farmer’s son. Other than that, little is known of him, and I could find no archival records for his existence. That being the case, I have taken the liberty of giving him a fictional family, including a deaf sister called Abigail. Whilst researching this book about Ralph Chaplin I took into account both the real history of the events of the English Civil War, and the legend of The Wicked Lady which features his lover, Kate. I also discovered that Lady Ann Fanshawe, Kate’s aunt, wrote a diary, and I used this valuable insight into the period as part of my research.
Lady Katherine Fanshawe, (Kate), Ralph Chaplin and his sister Abigail also appear in my earlier book, Shadow on the Highway, which tells Abigail’s story. Look out for Lady of the Highway, the culmination of the trilogy, which tells Lady Katherine’s (Kate’s) story.
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Roundheads and Cavaliers
This book is set at the very end of the English Civil War. Ralph takes part in the Battle of Worcester, fighting for Parliament, (the Roundheads) against the Cavaliers of the King’s Army.
In the middle of the seventeenth century, England went to war — not with another country, but with itself. This was a war which came and went, with brief periods of peace between each bout of fighting. It spread to Scotland, Wales and Ireland and to all levels of society. The dispute was one in which both men and women were prepared to take sides on matters of principle, and fight for their beliefs to the death.
In simple terms, the War was one between the King and his followers — the King’s Army, and Parliament on the other — The New Model Army, led by Cromwell. Sometimes these groups are known as Cavaliers and Roundheads. ‘Cavalier’ from the Spanish, caballero, originally meant a mounted soldier, but came to be used as an insult to denote someone who would put themselves above their station. ‘Roundhead’ was a term used to describe the short-haired apprentices who first came out in favour of Parliament.
The fighting was over matters of political policy, and on how Britain should be governed. The differences between the two factions were complicated by their opposing religious views; the Anglicanism of the King versus the Puritanism of Cromwell’s men. The War began when the port of Hull refused to open its gates to the King, and in 1642 the King proclaimed war on his rebellious subjects.
The English Civil War killed about two hundred thousand people, almost four percent of the population, and brought disease and famine in its wake. It divided families and stripped the land of food and wealth, as troops rampaged the countryside foraging and plundering whatever they could find.
Towns were flattened, and communities dispersed. For example, records show that Parliamentary troops blew up more than two hundred houses at Leicester just to provide a clear line of fire, whilst four hundred more were destroyed at Worcester and another two hundred at Faringdon.
There were nearly ten years of fighting and unrest. Some children barely knew their fathers as they had been away in the wars for most of that time. In effect there were three main periods of fighting, and this book is set right at the end, when the King is finally routed by Cromwell’s increasingly efficient New Model Army.
The seventeenth century saw a King executed, followed by the establishment of a military dictatorship under Cromwell. It was also a time that transformed society, and gave birth to new ideas about political and religious liberty, as demonstrated by the Diggers and sundry other sects with alternative or u
topian ideals.
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The Diggers
The Diggers were the first group of people to try and live in what we would nowadays call a ‘commune’. Led by Gerrard Winstanley, the movement began in Cobham, England, in 1649, but rapidly spread to other parishes in the southern area of England.
The name ‘The Diggers’ came from Winstanley’s belief that the earth was made to be ‘a common treasury for all’, and that all should be able to dig it, and provide themselves with what was necessary for human survival — food, warmth and shelter. The Diggers consisted mostly of poorer families that had no land of their own. They took over common land which was not already used, and began to cultivate it. They did not believe in enclosing the land, or separating one part of the earth from another.
Rich land-owners found these ideas threatening, and organised men to destroy the Diggers homes and ruin their crops in an effort to drive them off the land. The Diggers made several unsuccessful attempts to build houses in different locations, but were suppressed by the land-owning classes and dispersed by force, and the communities wiped out.
Although the Diggers were a short-lived movement, their ideas had a far-reaching effect, sowing the seeds of communal living and self-sufficiency for future generations. There is still a Diggers Festival every year in Wigan in England, where Winstanley was born.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Peter, James, Fiona, Robert, Karen, Claire, John and Jenny who were my early test readers.
I am grateful to the following books which formed the bedrock of my research.
The English Civil War at First Hand by Tristram Hunt
Going to the Wars by Charles Carlton
The English Civil Wars by Maurice Ashley
Thank you for choosing to purchase Spirit of the Highway. If you have enjoyed it, please consider writing a review or recommending it to a friend. If you have any queries about the book or this series, I am always happy to chat to readers. You can find me on Twitter @swiftstory, or on my website www.deborahswift.com
Also by Deborah Swift:
The Lady’s Slipper
The Gilded Lily
A Divided Inheritance
Shadow on the Highway
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