The Project
Some classmates and I recently visited Whitby Museum from Leeds Beckett University as part of our courses, in which we had the opportunity to partner with the museum to complete a project. Our first meeting with Claire took place at university, where we discussed the work the museum does to preserve history. We discussed the potential of recording an episode for the Talking Archives podcast about Whitby’s folklore. Our work would take place primarily in the library where there is an abundance of books on various topics. Another tool we found useful is the digitised copies of the Whitby Gazette, which date back as far as the 1854! It was great to be able to search up key words to enhance our research.
Although I have visited Whitby plenty of times from being young, I am ashamed to admit I had never been to the museum, so this was a first time visit for all of us. As well as making use of the library’s vast resources, we were able to wander the museum. Claire encouraged each to pick a different area of folklore and when exploring the current exhibition ‘Curiouser and Curiouser’ (running until December), ‘The Hand of Glory’ sparked an interest in me. I chose to research this for my section of the podcast.
The Hand of Glory
The general story of ‘The Hand of Glory’ is that robbers would take the severed, right hand of a criminal and make a candle using the criminal’s own fat. They would then use the hand at the site of a robbery by lighting the fingers of the hand in order to put sleeping occupants into a coma like sleep from which they could not be awake whilst the hand was still lit. Folklore states that the hand of glory could only be extinguished by blood or milk; blowing on the flames or pouring water over them allegedly only made the flames burn brighter.
When beginning my research, I firstly found a narrative on ‘The Hand of Glory’ by R and J Fairfax-Blakeborough (London, 1924). This version of the story seems to be the one that is most widely used when discussing the hand. In this version, two thieves plan on stealing from fellow travellers who are lodging at The Oak Tree Inn. Awoken by their creeping in the middle of the night, two maids – Jenny and Peggy – overhear their plans. They try to awaken their master but by this point, the hand has been lit rendering their efforts futile. Jenny becomes so frightened that she faints meaning Peggy is left alone to outwit the robbers. Luckily, she knows from folklore that it can only be put out with milk or blood so dashes a jug of milk over it, putting out the flames and allowing the guests to be awoken from their sleep. Ultimately, the thieves were caught, and nothing was stolen from the travellers. Whilst this version of the story is the one I found most widely reported, having been written about in several copies of the Whitby Gazette, I also read another story of the hand from H.L Gee ‘Folk Tales of Yorkshire’ (1953, pp. 148 – 152). In this story, an elderly lady seeks refuge at Spital House. When it becomes dark and most of the household are sleeping, Bella, the maid, regards suspicious behaviour from the lodger, noticing a manly leg beneath the traveller’s gown. She watches as the lodger takes out a mummified hand and lights the fingers. All except the thumb light, indicating Bella is still awake. Bella tries to wake the landlord but, much like Peggy in The Oak Tree Inn story, her efforts are in vain. She tries her best to put the flames out but the water and beer she employs only make the flame burn brighter. In a last-ditch attempt to extinguish the flames, she throws a jug of semi-skimmed milk over the hand which immediately puts out the flames, breaking the enchantment. The family of Spital House awake and the son shoots at the robber and Bella is credited with saving the household.
I thought this was incredibly engaging as whilst a rich part of Whitby’s folklore, there is still discourse over whether the hand of glory was in fact a real artifact. The hand on display at museum, obtained in acts as proof of the hand’s existence though non-believers still argue that it could’ve been kept in the walls as a superstition to ward off witches, rather than being a hand of glory.
The Podcast
After our initial visit to the museum, we were tasked with researching further into our chosen bit of folklore and creating a transcript as a starting point for the podcast. We arranged several dates for a second visit which unfortunately fell through but finally decided to make the journey up on the 23rd of April. In our first meeting with Claire, she showed us a bit about the equipment we’d be using to record the podcast – Audacity software and Snowball microphone – and how we would edit it after it had been completely recorded. This was good as we knew what to expect on our return visit.
Unfortunately for me, the visit was not meant to be – on my way I hit a pothole, puncturing my tyre! I had to make the sad phone call to Claire in which I told her it would not be possible for me to make the journey that day. Whilst the other members of the team travelled to Whitby, Claire and I discussed a way for me to still be part of the project despite my inability to contribute towards the podcast like originally planned. Claire suggested the blog entry which I was immediately excited by.
Whilst I awaited roadside recovery, Zachary and Elena recorded the podcast and made edits afterwards. Here is their Talking Archive – Leeds Beckett chat about Old Wives & Giants!
Images by Paige Blythe (Leeds Beckett Student)
Resources accessed for research include the Frank and Harriet Elgee Archive, Shaw Jeffries Whitby Lore and Legend, ‘The Hand of Glory’ by R and J Fairfax-BlakeBorough, and H.L.Gee Folk Tales of Yorkshire. Visitor access to these and other folklore resources are available Tuesday to Friday 10am-4.00pm.
Explore: Read: Discover
#archivesforall
