Who’s Who of Hideous Henry VIII’s Ghostly Wives, Wolf Hall and Where to See Them

Hampton Court Palace via AP

Stephen Arnell Investigates

Hampton Court Palace Ghost

December AD 2003: Closed-circuit security cameras at Hampton Court Palace detect a strange ghostly figure, “We’re baffled — it’s not a joke, we haven’t manufactured it, we genuinely don’t know who it is or what it is.” In the image, a robed figure (which could be of either sex), steps from the shadowy doorway, its arm reaching out for the door handle.

“It was incredibly spooky because the face just didn’t look human. My first reaction was that someone was having a laugh, so I asked my colleagues to take a look. We spoke to our costumed guides, but they don’t own a costume like that worn by the figure. It is actually quite unnerving,” said James Faukes, one of the palace security guards.

Who could it be?

King Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, died giving birth to the future Edward VI; her ghost supposedly walks the cobbled courtyards carrying a candle. Edward’s nurse Sibell Penn was buried in the palace grounds in 1562; construction work disturbed her tomb and a weird noise began to be heard nearby. Workmen uncovered a small forgotten room boasting an antique spinning wheel, one which Penn might well have used. Henry’s fifth bride, Catherine Howard was condemned for adultery with courtier Thomas Culpeper, then incarcerated at the Palace before her beheading at the Tower of London. She has reportedly been seen floating down the galleries emitting awful shrieks in anticipation of her eventual fate.

Culpepper’s execution:

There are many other sites associated with the wives of Henry VIII, the paranoid, unpredictable, hot-tempered, homicidal and rancidly smelly Tudor monarch in middle age (due to a seeping ulcer from a jousting wound, obesity, the clap, and a lack of basic hygiene).

I won’t explore them all, but will note some of particular interest, to me at least.

500 years later: Henry VIII, leg ulcers and the course of history

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Thomas Cromwell’s botched execution

It’s odd to note, that Henry’s chief minister Thomas Cromwell, who died in a botched execution for treason at the Tower in 1540, has never reappeared as a spectre, especially since the king later accused his ministers of bringing about Cromwell's downfall by "pretexts" and "false accusations".

Just months after Cromwell’s death, the French envoy reported Henry, “sometimes even reproaches [his ministers] with Cromwell’s death, saying that, upon light pretexts, by false accusations, they made him put to death the most faithful servant he had ever had”.

The downfall of Thomas Cromwell

The Mirror & the Light, the final instalment of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, focuses on the final four years of Thomas Cromwell’s life, from 1536–40. This also happens to be one of the most dramatic periods in British history. Tracy Borman explores the fascinating events for HistoryExtra…

www.historyextra.com

Ghostly image at Britain's Hampton Court

A haunted castle is a ghost story staple, but security guards at Britain's Hampton Court Palace think they've got the real thing.

www.nbcnews.com

The ghost of Sir Nicholas Hervey of Thurleigh?

Incidentally, I live not too far from the Bedfordshire town of Ampthill, where Henry’s first wife Catherine of Aragon spent some years after her marriage ended. She does not haunt the grounds of the now demolished castle where she lived, but a knight who was loyal to her is rumoured to.

However, this may actually be Sir Nicholas Hervey of Thurleigh, sent to Ampthill Castle to obtain the annulment from Catherine. An ill man, his talk with Catherine was wearying and to no avail, and after leaving the Queen’s room he suffered heart failure or a fatal attack of the ‘sweating disease’. His remains are in the graveyard of nearby Ampthill Church, commemorated by a brass of a Knight in Full Shining Armour in the North aisle. Could the ghost be the spectre of Sir Nicholas – or perhaps a 16th century urban legend?

Sir Nicholas Hervey (1491-1532) - Find a Grave...

One of the knights of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, and in the suite of Katherine of Arragon when she resided at Ampthill, Castle.

www.findagrave.com

Also, if you’re in the area, check out nearby slighted 17th mansion Houghton House, where visitors have reported seeing the ghost of a little waif standing in the doorway, and also a spooky horse drawn coach. I have been to the atmospheric site many times, but have yet to see any spectral goings-on.

Wikimedia Commons

Katherine returns to Ampthill:

Heads up - Catherine's back at Ampthill boozer: https://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/heads-up-catherines-back-at-ampthill-boozer-4711977

Ghost Round Up

Here’s a round up of where you may find the shades of The Six Wives, in order of marriage to Henry the bounder:

Katherine of Aragon (1485-1536)

Wikimedia Commons

Katherine can be seen at Kimbolton Castle, where she died on January 7th, 1536 after years of misery, barred from contact with her only child, Mary. Her phantom can apparently be seen on two floors of the castle, but walking a route that would have only existed in her lifetime, her top half on the upper floor, bottom on the lower.

Anne Boleyn (c.1500-1536)

Wikimedia Commons

Many locations are associated with post-life visitations by the most famous of Henry’s wives, including:

Hever Castle, Kent, Anne Boleyn’s family home, and the location of her courting done by the relentless Henry. She is said to return every Christmas Eve to perambulate the gardens.

Wikimedia Commons

Blickling Hall, Norfolk, most likely where Anne was born. Her ghost is said to return in a carriage pulled by a headless horseman with headless horses - Anne is seen holding her head on her lap. Her dad, the unlikeable daughter-pimping Thomas Boleyn, was cursed to be chased by demons around the grounds for a thousand years. You therefore have until 2539 AD to see him there, scampering along, being whipped by imps and howling in pain. Serves him right, if you ask me.

Wikimedia Commons

Anne is also said to appear at the window of the Dean’s Cloister at Windsor Castle. Her daughter Elizabeth I also haunts Windsor. So she has company. Although Henry does as well (see later) - probably not so welcome.

Wikimedia Commons

The Tower of London: Seen mainly in the White Tower and on Tower Green, where Anne was executed by a single stroke from a French headsman. In 1817, a guard saw her shade and apparently suffered a fatal heart attack; in 1864 she was witnessed by guards outside the Queen’s House. Also abides less frequently in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, her burial spot.

Wikimedia Commons

Salle Church, Norfolk, it’s rumoured Anne’s body was moved here in secret. Boleyn burials, such as Anne’s grandparents, are at the church, hence the theory. Anne appears there annually on May 19th, the anniversary of her execution.

Jane Seymour (c.1508-1537)

Hampton Court Palace - Clock Court (Wikimedia Commons)

Jane Seymour’s main haunts are the Clock Court and the Silver Stick Gallery and its staircase, near the rooms that she gave birth and died in. It has been said she is begging the forgiveness of Anne Boleyn, while others claim she is searching for her son, only 12 days old when she died.

Anne of Cleves (1515-1557)

Wikimedia Commons

Lucky Anne of Cleves does not seem to have a ghost. Once divorced, she was gifted Hever Castle (Anne Boleyn’s old family home), and a generous pension. The haunted Anne of Cleve’s House in Lewes has no proven association with her.

Paranormal Investigation and Ghost Hunt at Anne of Cleves House, Lewes, East Sussex from Casebook of Dark Encounters

Paranormal Investigation and Ghost Hunt at Anne of Cleves House, Lewes, East Sussex

darkencounters.co.uk

Catherine Howard (c.1521-1540)

Hampton Court - The Haunted Gallery (Wikimedia Commons)

As said, her ghost is known to both visitors and Hampton Court Palace staff alike, where Catherine stalks the ‘Haunted Gallery’. In the 1990s, two women on separate occasions fainted in precisely the spot her screeching apparition appears.

Catherine Parr (1512-1548)

Sudeley Castle (Wikimedia Commons)

The staff at Sudeley Castle affectionately call her wraith ‘Katie’. Catherine has been seen strolling through the gardens or admiring them from a window, donned in Tudor green and smelling pleasantly of fresh apples. It is deduced that she is looking for her daughter and only child, Mary, who was just a few days old when Catherine died from the birth in 1548. Her mother's wealth was left entirely to her soon-to-be executed father and later confiscated by the Crown, leaving her a penniless orphan consigned to the neglectful care of Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk. As no claim was ever made on her father's remaining estate, the conclusion is she did not live past two years of age.

Does Henry VIII himself haunt anywhere?

Windsor Castle, The Tower of London and Hampton Court have all been associated with the king’s phantom, but nothing of particular record. Maybe his deeply unpleasant stench lingers, though.

I can only assume he’s probably residing somewhere with a rather hot climate.

Viewing highlights

November 2024 - Wolf Hall - The Mirror and the Light Historical Television Series Premiere

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light historical drama television series premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on November 10, 2024. The series is a second adaptation by Peter Straughan of the Wolf Hall novels by Hilary Mantel. The Mirror & the Light is the final novel in the trilogy.

Wolf Hall Cast

• Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell
• Damian Lewis as Henry VIII
• Kate Phillips as Jane Seymour
• Anton Lesser as Thomas More
• Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey
• Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Rafe Sadler
• Timothy Spall as Duke of Norfolk
• Harriet Walter as Lady Margaret Pole
• Joss Porter as Richard Cromwell

In The Tudors (2007-2010), the king is haunted by his deceased wives:

And in Monarch (2000/2024) an aged Henry VIII (T.P McKenna) also experiences his very own dark night of the soul continues when the ghosts of his wives return to haunt him (all played by Jean Marsh).

A miscast Ray Winstone as Henry:

And not forgetting poor Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury - the ‘Last of the Plantagenets’

Wikimedia Commons

On the morning of 27 May 1541, 67-year-old Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury was led to Tower Green for her execution for supposed treason. Witnesses expected her to speak a few words before laying her head upon the block. Instead, the countess told the headsman she was not going to kneel and he would have to do it where she stood. Guards grabbed her and forced her head to the block as she struggled.

The executioner was so perturbed by events that instead of striking her neck with the axe, he caught her shoulder. White-haired Lady Pole, with blood pouring from her wound, rose up and attempted to run off, whilst the executioner pursued her round the scaffold, eventually dispatching the countess with no less than eleven wild blows. On the anniversary night of Pole’s execution, her apparition can be seen desperately running around Tower Green, blood streaming from her wounds, eternally pursued by the phantom headsman. A ‘twofer’, if you will.

The following poem was found carved on the wall of Margaret's cell in the Tower:

"For traitors on the block should die; I am no traitor, no, not I!

My faithfulness stands fast and so, Towards the block I shall not go!

Nor make one step, as you shall see; Christ in Thy Mercy, save Thou me!"

Incidentally, although Margaret was one of the last well-known Plantagenets (who ruled England from 1154 to 1485), the line continues to this day, with the rightful (to some) claimant to the British throne, Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun. In 2004, C4 in the UK broadcast this documentary about his father Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun.

Stephen Arnell’s novel THE GREAT ONE is available to buy on Amazon Kindle:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-One-Secret-Memoirs-Pompey-ebook/dp/B0BNLTB2G7

Opening chapters:

How a Ghost Inspired a Profound Spiritual Journey

The author of this story is Fred Welling, an English spiritual medium who resettled in Adelaide, South Australia in the late 60’s. I was fortunate to witness his gifted mediumship demonstrations in local spiritualist churches which brought comfort and healing to many. His article was originally published in the popular Afterlife Magazine, which has since joined the PDN family.

Fred Welling, Spiritual Medium

We have much more to fear from humans than from spirits/ghosts

In the 1940s, my parents and I lived in a two-storey home in Southampton, England and like many children, I was scared of the dark and things that go bump in the night. My bedroom was at the top of the stairs and as a young boy of 5 or 6 years old, when I climbed those stairs, I often felt that someone or something was standing at the top of them. Terrified, I would jump into bed and pull the covers right over my head. I heard scary noises and felt that someone or something I could not see was in the bedroom with me.

My parents were both psychically aware and used to tell me that I had much more to fear from humans with physical bodies than from spirits/ghosts. They also encouraged me to not be afraid of the unseen presences in my room as they would not harm me.

However, I was not too sure of this. We often spent time downstairs in the living room, talking or listening to the radio. We began to hear crashing sounds from upstairs, my father and I would run up the stairs to find dozens of the fragile, mantlepiece ornaments scattered all over the floor of my parent’s bedroom. It was amazing that none of these ornaments ever broke.

My father, a professional boxer, eventually became completely frustrated with this recurring activity and in a strong and authoritative voice, he said: ‘We do not mind you visiting but please do not do that again!’ From that time onward, to our relief, the ornaments were left alone.

Learning that ghosts are not ‘bad’

During my teenage years I met a young man called ‘Buck’ who became a friend. Buck was training to become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. He was fully aware of the unseen world of spirit and could have conversations with those in the spirit world as clearly as with a group of friends in this world. Buck’s spirit guide told him: “You will be a good priest, but you will help more people if you do not become a priest.”

One evening, Buck was visiting the family and went upstairs to use the toilet. He was away a long time and when he returned, with my dry sense of humour, I couldn’t resist asking if he had fallen into the toilet. Buck ignored my question and asked if we had ever noticed anything unusual at the top of the stairs. We all replied, “Yes.”

He revealed that he had seen a young mother holding a baby at the top of the stairs and found out that many years ago, this young woman had committed suicide in my parent’s bedroom. Her young baby also died in that room.

The mother had become ‘stuck between the worlds’ and had been trying to get someone’s attention for quite some time. Even though my parents were psychically/spiritually aware, they had not been on the same wave length as the mother and baby and were therefore unable to help.

Fortunately, Buck was able to tune in to the mother’s spiritual energy level and assist her and the child to move on to a more fulfilling life in the spirit worlds. To our relief, we no longer felt a sad presence at the top of the stairs. It was wonderful that Buck had been able to converse with ‘our ghost’ and help her.

This proved to me that life did indeed continue beyond physical death and that ghosts are not ‘bad’ but rather souls who need our love and assistance to help them move into the realms of light in the spiritual worlds where they are met by their loved ones. When I finished school and started work, I thought no more of these psychic experiences. However, little did I know that Spirit had only just started with me!

How my lifelong commitment to Spiritualism began

Image: Jplenio, Pixabay

In my early twenties, my beloved wife Doreen became ill with a heart condition. The doctors said that she would not survive without surgery. I gave permission and signed documents for the surgery to be performed but tragically, Doreen died on the operating table. For many decades I felt extremely guilty for having signed the papers and irrationally believed that I had killed my wife.

At the time I was living in Shirley, Southampton UK and heard about a Spiritualist Church which was within walking distance of my home. During my grief period, I visited this church on a number of occasions.

My first visit left me intrigued and I really enjoyed the service, so I returned the following week and sat near the back. The spiritual medium on the platform was an old lady who was almost blind. During her demonstration of evidential mediumship, she said: “I want to come to the young man who is hiding near the back.”

I was naturally stunned, as she could not have physically seen me. The medium gave incredible details of the relationship between my wife and me. This information was known only to me. She also emphasized that Doreen did not hold me responsible for her death. It was her time to leave the physical world.

So began my lifelong commitment to Spiritualism. I ended up vice president of that Southampton church and over the years, became an evidential medium both in the UK and later in Australia when my second wife (another Doreen) and our two daughters, Patricia and Barbara, migrated in 1969.

True tales from a closed physical mediumship development group

Before leaving the UK, I had heard about a closed physical mediumship development group at Lances Hill. There were about ten to twelve sitters in this group and after waiting several years, I was invited to attend as a visitor to see if my vibrations were suitable to join this group. To my delight, I was accepted and attended on a weekly basis, catching two buses there and back.

The development group was led by a medium who had leukemia and was not expected to live for long. However, we were told that he would continue his work until it was finished and then leave the physical world. When I left for Australia in 1969, the medium appeared to have recovered.

Physical mediumship involves spirit entities using the energies of a medium to produce tangible physical effects which can be witnessed visibly and audibly by everyone in the room at the same time. The spirit entities manipulate the energies and substances of a medium to form physical manifestations such as spirit ‘bodies’ that enable a spirit to speak directly from their world to ours.

The spirit communicators provide an interface of communication between our world on earth and their worlds known as spirit world. Other physical phenomena that can be produced include physical smells, hot or cold drafts, levitation, apportation of objects from mid-air, transfiguration, spirit lights, raps or knocks, direct voice communication and physical apparitions.

Each week we met in a private home in an upstairs, candlelit room that was reserved solely for the purpose of physical mediumship. Members of the group, referred to as ‘sitters’, would enter quietly and always sit in the same position and the same chair. This ensured that the group energy remained harmonious and balanced.

We were asked to talk quietly about spiritual topics while the medium prepared to move into a state of deep trance. Suddenly, there would be a change of energy and we knew that a spirit being was about to manifest physically in the room.

Opening our hearts to the Divine Force

The manifested spirit would speak through the medium for about thirty minutes on spiritual topics such as life beyond the physical world, karmic events affecting individual lives here on earth and what we could do to mitigate the negative effects. He emphasized the need to open our hearts to the Divine Force and to work in service to humanity.

Questions were permitted to be asked and answers were received. However, if the spirit being felt it was not in a person’s best interests to receive the answer, it was not given. Sometimes the spirit would move close to a sitter and hold their hands, an experience that felt like an electrical current passing through the body.

On the rare occasion when a guest hoped to be accepted into the group, the spirit would proceed to tell them a few of the things they had been doing that day as a means of confirmation and validation that their arrival had been anticipated. They were assured that this was an ongoing practice and there would be no further intrusion in anyone’s private life.

These major life experiences began my search for truth.

Fred & Liz Welling. Behind every great medium is an equally great woman

Australia Bound

Following my arrival in Australia, I settled in Adelaide, South Australia and joined various psychic development and self-awareness groups. For over 40 years I have continued to develop my ability to tune into the spiritual worlds and, like the old lady who was almost blind, I have worked on many platforms in spiritualist churches across the country.

I have been able to bring comfort to many people by giving them evidence that their loved ones are not dead but very much alive in a wonderful spiritual dimension. I am still doing this in 2020 at the age of almost 86 years young.

Author, Fred Welling

Gog & Magog: London’s Legendary Giant Guardians & Their English Kin

Frederick William Fairholt (1859) Gog and Magog: The Giants in Guildhall (Wikimedia Commons)

Hobbit-like ‘Beaker People’ to ancient guardian giants

There was once apparently a time when giants strode England’s green and pleasant land; actual behemoths, not simply lanky folk, especially when they’re compared to the swarthy, furtive, hobbit-like, and meanly acquisitive Basque-descended ‘Beaker People’ of the time - who to this very day, constitute a fair percentage of the country’s indigenous population. Quite obvious when one wanders down the streets of many an English burgh, where these shuffling, unwashed, gimlet-eyed figures are common.

Neolithic farmers were wiped out by ‘Beaker people’

The research is the largest study of ancient human DNA ever conducted, by an international team of 144 archaeologists and geneticists.

www.dailymail.co.uk

You want further proof?

Aye, that’s correct, not Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Picts, Vikings or Normans, but Basques from Northern Spain:

Myths of British ancestry

Everything you know about British and Irish ancestry is wrong. Our ancestors were Basques, not Celts. The Celts were not wiped out by the Anglo-Saxons...

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

There are few, if any contemporary sightings of giants in the UK; aside from Northern Ireland, where genetically mutated AIP-gene* ogres still abide in Sperrin mountains of Mid-Ulster, some of their forbears having reached 7ft 6in tall.

*AIP - Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Interacting Protein. Gene which causes pituitary adenomas in some families with acromegaly (a rare disorder that occurs when the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone after the skeleton has finished growing) and occasionally prolactinomas (noncancerous (benign) pituitary tumors that produce a hormone called prolactin, that triggers breast milk production), and very rarely with other types of pituitary adenomas.

Courtesy of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Thomas Dambo: Sperrin Mountains 'fairy tale' setting for trolls

The Sperrins are home to a number of large troll sculptures by a world renowned Danish artist.

www.bbc.co.uk

Legendary Giants

But in England, the giants are (mainly) the stuff of legend, figures such as Avon-Gorge creating brothers Goram and Vincent (Bristol), 28ft tall Jack o' Legs (Hertfordshire, some factual basis - perhaps), Blunderbore, Cormoran, two-headed Thunderdell (all Cornish), Ascapart (Hampshire), Colbrand (Winchester), the Penhill Giant (Yorkshire), William of Lindholme (Doncaster, also Yorkshire) and Yernagate (The New Forest).

Some dubious theorising:

No doubt there are other Welsh, Scotch and Irish (as we have seen) giants, but for the purpose of this investigation, I will concentrate on English - and more specifically London leviathans.

Sculpture of Goram the Giant in the grounds of Ashton Court (Wikimedia Commons)

The grave of Jack o'Legs in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church at Weston (Wikimedia Commons) -if they dug it up, would the legend be proved?

David Lowery’s excellent The Green Knight (2021) contains a very evocative scene where a questing Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) encounters a group of giants:

Gog and Magog: London’s Protectors

The names first appear in the Old Testament's Book of Ezekiel. Gog is a landowner and Magog is the land’s name. In Revelation, they become one single being — representing the hostile nations of the world.

In London lore, Gog and Magog (or possibly Magog and Cornelius) were supposedly the gigantic product of the thirty-three naughty daughters of Roman emperor Diocletian (242/245 – 311/312 AD) and the demonic imps they'd been enjoying frantic carnal congress with.

When Brutus (not that one) founded ‘New Troy’ (which would later become London), he brought to heel the pair, indenturing them as guardians of the city, chaining them on leads outside his palace, which is now the venerable London Guildhall.

The London Guildhall (Wikimedia Commons), situated above ancient Roman amphitheatre

Gog and Magog live on

Nonsense? Probably. But the legend lived on, with the two fearsome colossi continuing on as the city's guardians. Effigies appeared at the coronation of Elizabeth I in 1558 and made recorded appearances at the Lord Mayor's Show over the years preceding the enthronement.

The custom of carrying effigies and images such as Gog and Magog at festivals is a hangover from the good old days of human sacrifice, when the victim was replaced with a symbolic representation. The custom of carrying figures at festivals was common during the Middle Ages in England and the giants of myth were among them. Just 20 miles up the road in Hertfordshire, there is an annual St Albans Pilgrimage, where ‘12ft tall carnival puppets, representing figures from the story of St Alban, take to the streets to re-enact his historic story. The puppets are accompanied by people of all ages dressed as lions, Roman soldiers, angels, chariots and more.’ ¹

Made by the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers, wicker figures of Gog and Magog are the latest incarnation to take part of the London Mayors Parade and have been part of the show since the reign of Henry V.

Alban Pilgrimage is back for 2023

Learn all about the Alban Pilgrimage

www.stalbanscathedral.org

Gog and Magog

Towards the head of the procession you may see two stern but benevolent wicker giants. They are Gog and Magog, the traditional guardians of the City of London, and they have been carried in the Lord Mayor's Show since the reign of Henry V.The matter of BritainGog and Magog, or sometimes Gogmagog and Corineus, are descended from mythical pagan giants and their origins lie

lordmayorsshow.london

From 1839 until the late 1920s, figures of the two were displayed at the front of Sir John Bennett's Clock Shop on Cheapside. Bizarrely though, they now live in the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan:

Restoring Sir John Bennett's Giants -- The Henry Ford Blog - Blog - The Henry Ford

Learn about an extensive project to repair and preserve elements of the Sir John Bennett shop in Greenfield Village: the giants Gog and Magog, a Muse and Father Time, the clock, and the distinctive dragon weathervane.

www.thehenryford.org

Other Gog and Magog statues have been in Guildhall for centuries; the current ones date from 1954, replacing 18th century statues destroyed in the blitz, which in turn, replaced the wicker and paste 17th century ones, which were eaten by rodents. A still earlier set were burnt in the Great Fire in 1666.

Charles Dickens describes statues coming to life

Cheeky Cockney kids were told to behave otherwise the pair would eat them for supper; Charles Dickens in Master Humphrey's Clock describes the statues coming to life and necking large quantities of wine.

‘The statues of the two giants, Gog and Magog, each above fourteen feet in height, those which succeeded to still older and more barbarous figures, after the Great Fire of London, and which stand in the Guildhall to this day, were endowed with life and motion. These guardian genii of the City had quitted their pedestals, and reclined in easy attitudes in the great stained glass window. Between them was an ancient cask, which seemed to be full of wine; for the younger Giant, clapping his huge hand upon it, and throwing up his mighty leg, burst into an exulting laugh, which reverberated through the hall like thunder.’

Master Humphrey's Clock - page 10

A story of a lonely man who decides to start a club, where the members would read out their stories to others.

www.dickens-online.info

Gog and Magog – The Guardians of the City of London

This week saw the annual parade for the Lord Mayor of London which celebrated the 693rd incumbent . Every year as part of one of the oldest civic parades in the world you might catch a glimpse of t…

stephenliddell.co.uk

Earliest surviving representations in the UK - Possibly

Figures of the duo are also to found at the church of St Dunstan-in-the-West; the statues are, I believe the earliest surviving representations in the UK, dating from the 14th century. Probably, unless they are instead of Old King Lud, flanked by his two sons Androgeus and Theomantius. They previously were mounted at Ludgate, until it was dismantled in the 18th century, finding a new home within their niche at St Dunstan-in-the-West.

The Fleet Street frontage is noted for its clock where definitely Gog and Magog beat the hourly bell with their clubs.

The Time-Telling Giants of Fleet Street

Dressed in animal skins and wielding clubs, these guardians stand over a London church clock.

www.atlasobscura.com

The Biblical take on the names:

I loved this as a kid:

The Selfish Giant (1971)

Stephen Arnell’s novel THE GREAT ONE is available on Amazon Kindle:

The Great One : The Secret Memoirs of Pompey the Great eBook : Arnell, Stephen: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

The Great One : The Secret Memoirs of Pompey the Great eBook : Arnell, Stephen: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

www.amazon.co.uk

Footnote

1 - St Albans Cathedral website

The Aztec Death Whistle: A Haunting Legacy of Sound and Ritual

Imagine a sound so unsettling that it sends shivers down your spine, a shriek so unnerving that it echoes in your mind long after it stops. Now, picture that sound not coming from a horror film or a wild animal but from a small, skull-shaped clay instrument crafted centuries ago by the Aztecs. These chilling creations, known as death whistles, produce sounds eerily reminiscent of the wails of tortured souls. Yet, despite their menacing reputation, these whistles remain a mystery. Why did the ancient Aztecs create such instruments? Were they symbols of death, tools of war, or perhaps something far more ritualistic and spiritual? As researchers continue to explore the significance of these artefacts, the Aztec death whistle lures us deeper into the enigma of pre-Columbian soundscapes.

Discovery: A Sound Unleashed from the Past

The journey of the Aztec death whistle from obscurity to fascination began in 1999, with an archaeological dig beneath modern-day Mexico City. Here, in the ruins of a 650-year-old temple dedicated to Ehecatl, the god of wind, archaeologists unearthed a skeleton. Clutched in the skeletal hands of a sacrificed young man were two small clay objects, sculpted into the shape of human skulls. At first, these artefacts were mistaken for children’s toys or perhaps burial ornaments. After all, what else could they be?

It wasn’t until someone blew into one of these ancient noisemakers—15 years after its discovery—that the true nature of the death whistle was revealed. The sound it produced was unlike anything that had been heard in modern times: a bone-chilling, high-pitched wail that seemed to carry the cries of the dead through the air. Far from a simple toy, this was a tool designed to evoke terror.

Theories and Speculation: Tools of Fear or Guides for the Soul?

When trying to unravel the mystery of the Aztec death whistle, one can’t help but feel a sense of awe at its potential purposes. Theories about its function are as varied as they are fascinating. One of the most prominent ideas is that these whistles were used in sacrificial ceremonies. As the victim prepared to meet their fate, walked toward death, the death whistle may have been blown to accompany their final moments with the sound of spirits howling in agony. Could this be the sound of souls being ripped from their bodies, carried on the wind to the underworld? Perhaps.

Equally compelling is the idea that the whistles were instruments of psychological warfare. Imagine standing on a battlefield, facing a swarm of Aztec warriors. Suddenly, the air fills with the screams of a thousand souls, the shrieks so piercing that your instinct is to flee. Could these whistles have been blown in unison to disorient and terrify enemies? Some scholars believe it’s possible, though the evidence remains thin.

Others have posited more esoteric theories. Certain researchers suggest that the death whistles may have been used in healing rituals, their chaotic sounds intended to induce trance-like states. The erratic frequencies, reaching the upper limits of human hearing, might have been thought to alter consciousness, opening pathways to the spirit world or calming a troubled mind. The truth, as with many artefacts of ancient cultures, may never be fully known. But what remains is the sound—a sound that both captivates and terrifies.

Roberto Velázquez and the Revival of Ancient Sounds

At the forefront of modern research into the death whistle is Roberto Velázquez, a mechanical engineer who has spent decades studying and recreating pre-Columbian instruments. His work has not only breathed new life into these ancient noisemakers but has also challenged the way we think about the sensory experiences of past civilizations.

Velázquez, fascinated by the sounds of his ancestors, has meticulously reconstructed hundreds of ancient whistles, flutes, and other wind instruments. He has travelled the breadth of Mexico to study newly unearthed artefacts, some dating back as far as 400 BC. But recreating these instruments is only part of his mission. Understanding how they were played—and why—is equally crucial. In one instance, Velázquez spent an entire year experimenting with a frog-shaped whistle before finally uncovering its "inner croak." His dedication underscores how much is still unknown about the aural landscapes of ancient Mesoamerican cultures.

Velázquez has said that modern archaeologists have often viewed ancient cultures through a visual and tactile lens, largely ignoring the importance of sound. “We’ve been looking at our ancient culture as if they were deaf and mute,” he has remarked. His reconstructions of the death whistle challenge that perception, offering a vivid auditory glimpse into a past where sound played a pivotal role in both ritual and warfare.

The Complex Sound Mechanism: Chaos in the Wind

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Aztec death whistle is its sophisticated internal design. Far from being a simple noisemaker, the whistle contains intricately crafted chambers that manipulate airflow in ways that are still not fully understood. When air is blown into the mouthpiece, it is split and forced through these chambers, creating unpredictable fluctuations in pressure. These fluctuations, in turn, produce the chaotic, spine-tingling sound that has come to define the death whistle.

Velázquez refers to this intricate mechanism as a "chaos wind generator," a fitting term for an instrument that produces such discordant, unnerving noises. The sound isn’t just a scream; it’s a multi-layered cacophony that can evoke the sound of storms, winds, animal growls, and even human suffering. The chaotic nature of the sound has led some researchers to suggest that these instruments were meant to invoke the elemental forces of nature, perhaps calling on the wind god Ehecatl himself.

A Modern Fascination

Though the Aztec death whistle was born in an ancient world, its legacy is finding new life in modern times. From musicians like Xavier Quijas Yxayotl, who incorporates death whistles into his re-creations of Aztec and Mayan music, to cottage industries producing replicas for Day of the Dead celebrations, these eerie instruments have made their way into contemporary culture. Velázquez’s work has inspired a new generation of researchers, musicians, and even medical professionals interested in how ancient sounds can affect the mind and body.

In fact, some medical researchers are now investigating whether the erratic frequencies produced by these whistles could have therapeutic applications. Could these sounds, so chaotic and unsettling, be used to alter states of consciousness or influence heart rates? The idea may seem far-fetched, but the ancient Aztecs were known for their sophisticated understanding of the human mind and spirit.

Conclusion

The Aztec death whistle remains one of the most captivating mysteries of Mesoamerican archaeology. Its chilling sound, combined with its intricate design, suggests a deep cultural significance that we are only beginning to understand. Whether used in sacrificial rites, psychological warfare, or healing rituals, the death whistle provides a rare auditory window into the world of the ancient Aztecs—a world where sound was not merely an accessory to life, but a force that shaped it.

References

1. Posada Tamayo, S. (2018). Mexico: What Were the Terrifying “Whistles of Death” Used To Be? One of the Great Mysteries of the Aztec Culture.

2. Velázquez Cabrera, R. (2015). ‘Death Whistle’: Cremated Example (Re)Discovered.

3. Broad, W. J. (1988). Complex Whistles Found to Play Key Roles in Inca and Maya Life.

4. Leafloor, L. (2014). Aztec Death Whistles Sound Like Human Screams and May Have Been Used as Psychological Warfare.

5. Watson, J. (2008). Archaeologists Digging Up Pre-Columbian Sounds. Associated Press.

6. Likens, T. (2018). The Aztec “Death” Whistle – Hear What the Wailing of 1000 Souls Sounds Like.