Ghost Trails of Northumbria
It seems that
a former Baron of Featherstonehaugh arranged the marriage of his daughter,
Abigail, to a distant relative - Timothy Featherstonehaugh.
Abigail resisted the wedding for as long as possible hoping that her father would relent and allow her to marry young Ridley Hardriding - to whom she had given her heart. Unfortunately Ridley was a member of a family who had a longstanding feud with the baron, so the old man would not consider this alternative match .
In time
Abigail was forced to walk down the chapel aisle with Timothy. After the
ceremony she and her husband set off to the woods with a hunting party
promising to return for their wedding banquet.
The hunters
were ambushed by Ridley Hardriding and his friends. In the bloody fight
that followed everyone was slain apart from Ridley and Abigail. She died
in his arms some minutes later from wounds received when she placed
herself between her husband
and lover in the midst of battle.
When Ridley
saw the consequences of his action he was overcome with grief and plunged
a dagger into his own heart. His blood is said to have drained into a
hollow stone, and the ravens came down and drank it with relish. The
stone, predictably called Raven's Stone, can still be found in the wood
near the castle.
The Baron and
his wife were meanwhile anxiously awaiting the return of the newly weds.
At this stroke of midnight the hunting party entered the banquet hall and
glided silently to their appointed seats.
