Magpies. One for sorrow, two for joy. We all know the nursery rhyme. But what on earth was the backstory? I could find nothing that satisfied me, and so I wrote my own. And naturally I gave it a darker history and a place where the warnings have consequences. The Magpies of Hagley Stile. #Edvane #Folklore LINK IN COMMENTS

#vss365 “Enjoy the feast, mortals, but make no sound,” warned the Archfae. “Stay your raptures or be guests of this castle forever.” They ate and drank in silence until a servant stumbled, spilling wine across their captor's robes. Delighted to see him humiliated, they erupted in #cheering. The banquet vanished. Doors slammed shut. Their captor wiped his robes and smiled. “Never fails.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

Under King Æthelstan, an Anglo-Saxon moneyer caught striking false coin could lose the hand that made it. The law ordered that the severed hand be displayed at the mint as a warning to others. Counterfeiting did not just cost a man his livelihood. It could leave part of him hanging over it. #Edvane #GrimHistory

#vss365 “Master, how did our world #start?” “We murdered a god, boy. Built our kingdoms upon its bones, filled its wounds with oceans and drew our magic from its dying flesh.” “Then why does the earth tremble?” The old wizard stared into the fire. “Because we never taught it how to die.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

In 1419, Margery Chaloner of Leicester was convicted with two men of killing her husband. The men were sentenced to hang. Because a wife killing her husband was treated as petty treason, Margery was sentenced to be burned. Same killing. Different fire. #Edvane #GrimHistory

#vss365 An imp promised Meredith a shortcut through the wood. “Follow my footprints and #travel true,” he said. “Stray once, and you’ll never leave.” Meredith obeyed until he reached a clearing. There, the footprints ended. The imp waited with a shovel. “I lied, mortal. Start digging.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

Sunday gratitude to all new followers in the past week. Special thanks to everyone who reposted my stuff. Follow them too! @aHEMandias @bottomlight5evr @fizzyfizzytwiz @robbeeio63 @simon_coll87859 @skeptikoi @alienfromheart @waggishauthor @DrNaveedAhamed1 @Latikay001 @PriyambanaP @niasruv @Officeofdarknes @RedRH3000 @Davidcs_AW @Write2Fite @candace_mi54817 #Edvane

In 1722, Bartholomew Roberts, one of the most successful pirates of the age, was struck by grapeshot during battle with HMS Swallow off West Africa. Roberts had already told his crew what to do if he died. They weighted his body and threw it into the sea before the Royal Navy could seize it. The navy captured his ship. It never captured the captain’s corpse. #Edvane #GrimHistory

#vss365 For two hundred years, the villagers had kept a #taper burning, passing the watch from father to son. While its flame endured, the murderous ghost beneath the bridge could never rise. The new keeper tended it faithfully for seven nights. On the eighth, he thought of what the villagers had done to his daughter. And blew. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

In 1704, Captain John Quelch was marched through Boston under armed guard with five of his crew after being convicted of piracy. Crowds followed as the condemned men were taken by boat across the Charles River to the place of execution, where all six were hanged. The procession was deliberately public. Justice wanted an audience. #Edvane #GrimHistory

#vss365 Blunderbore's many heads could spot a traveller from #miles away. No one crossed the western hills unseen, and those who caught sight of the giant fled in terror. One evening, a shepherd found him weeping, his eyes fixed upon the distant horizon. “What do you see?” he asked. “Nothing,” whispered the giant. “It's eaten everything between here and the sea.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy #Folklore

In 1701, Captain William Kidd was taken to Execution Dock in London after being convicted of murder and piracy. The rope broke on the first attempt and Kidd fell alive beneath the gallows. There was no reprieve. He was hanged again, and his corpse was then displayed in chains beside the Thames for years. The first hanging failed. The warning did not. #Edvane #GrimHistory

#vss365 At Easter, the pace-egg players came, singing for pennies. Behind them, Little Devil #Doubt, carrying his broom. “If you do not give me money, I'll sweep you all out!” The squire laughed and slammed the door. By morning the manor was spotless. No servants, children or wife remained. Only the squire, who had paid with his soul. #Edvane #DarkFantasy #Folklore

In 1566, pirate Richard Hitchens was convicted in Guernsey after admitting attacks on Flemish fishermen and merchant shipping. He was taken to St Martin’s Point at the sea mark and sentenced to be hanged and strangled until dead. His body was then left hanging in chains by the shore as a warning to other pirates, with the tide rising and falling beneath him. Even after the sentence was carried out, the coast continued the punishment. #Edvane #GrimHistory

#vss365 The witch thought her secret safe when a nobleman made his #commitment to marry her. She arrived at the appointed hour in her finest gown, only to be dragged to the scaffold, screaming curses. He had promised they would tie the knot. That day it was around her neck. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

In 1726, Captain William Fly was taken to the gallows at Boston for mutiny, murder and piracy. He remained so defiant that he reportedly criticised the hangman’s knot, retied it himself and placed the noose around his own neck. Afterward, his body was gibbeted on Nixes Mate in Boston Harbour, where sailors could see it from the water. His final role was the same as the gallows itself. #Edvane #GrimHistory

#vss365 In 1830, threatening letters signed Captain Swing were #fueling riots across the countryside. Hayricks burned, threshing machines were smashed and landowners trembled. A reward for his capture was offered, and the farmers laughed at their own contrivance. Then someone claimed it. With his head. #Edvane #DarkFantasy