Posted on 06/28/2021 7:45:33 PM PDT by nickcarraway
To this day, brides leave flowers on her grave on the day of their wedding to avoid a cursed marriage
The morning of October 11, 1641 was cold, wet and misty in Chagford.
But despite the depressing weather, a young lady by the name of Mary Whiddon was in a joyous mood: today was her wedding day.
Looking resplendent in her white wedding dress, there were gasps of approval as she climbed down from her carriage outside and entered the Church of St Michael the Archangel.
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After a brief ceremony, Mary was married. As she stood on the steps of the church, people cheered, friends applauded and loved ones sent her their best wishes.
She had the rest of her married life in front of her.
Just then a shot rang out, piercing the dank, misty Dartmoor air. Mary collapsed, a bright red spot of blood just above her heart shockingly visible through her pristine white wedding dress.
Within seconds, she was dead. Her husband, married for just a few minutes, cradled his dead wife in his arms.
Mary Whiddon came from a prosperous family in Chagford.
For generations, they had been local squires, and many of them are buried in the church. Their family home was the 13th-Century building which is now the Three Crowns Hotel, formerly known as Whiddon House.
Her parents were Oliver Whiddon and Margaret, née Crymes, formerly Coplestone. She had one brother, Rowland, and a sister, Margaret.
She was the granddaughter of Francis Whiddon, one of the first Englishmen who tried to settle in what is now America.
Mary was also the great granddaughter of Sir John Whiddon, serjeant-at-law for Henry VIII, and judge of the king's bench for Mary I and Elizabeth I.
She had apparently been courted by a man who possibly asked for her hand in marriage. Mary refused and, with there being no shortage of admirers, she chose another man to be her husband.
This was received poorly by her former suitor, who spent the coming months complaining bitterly to anyone who would listen about the match.
Despite his incessant complaining about his bad luck, many thought his ill-feeling towards Mary and her husband-to-be would subside once the wedding had taken place.
That day finally came in October, 1641. It was there, on the steps of the church, that he shot Mary dead with one bullet from a pistol.
Fact or fiction?
Quite what happened to Mary's killer is not known. In fact, although the story is widely acknowledged as being true, there is little to confirm it definitely happened.
Mary's tomb records that she died 'a matron, yet a maid', meaning she was married but still a virgin. However, with maid even now being a common Devon word for a young girl, this could just mean she was not very old when she died. In that case, it would translate as 'married, but young'.
The church's marriage and burial registers for the Civil War period are lost, and the only contemporaneous record is Mary Whiddon's undated will.
It mentions no husband, but as her maiden name is also thought to have been Whiddon, potentially meaning she married a cousin, it might have been written before her marriage was arranged.
The will shows no date or place. In it she bequeathed money to her siblings, her godchildren, the poor of Chagford, and the labourers of the parish. She also left a gold ring to her mother.
Legacy
in the stone floor of the church, this verse was carved to commemorate her:
“Reader wouldst know who here is laid, Behold a matron yet maid, A modest look, a pious heart, A Mary for the better part, But dry thine eyes, why wilt thou weep - Such damsels do not die but sleep.”
But that was not the end of the affair.
In 1971, a wedding guest staying at Whiddon Park awoke to find the ghostly apparition of a young woman dressed in a period wedding gown standing in the doorway of his room.
Many believe this is Mary haunting the area following her death.
Some say there is a secret passage from Whiddon Park House to The Three Crowns Hotel and that Mary's ghost haunts The Bishop's Room and upstairs corridors of The Three Crowns.
Her tragic death is said to have inspired RD Blackmore's fictional account of Lorna Doone, shot - but not killed - by Carver Doone through the church window in Oare just as the husband was about to kiss his bride.
It is known that the author spent a great deal of time in the Chagford area and so it would not be unreasonable to assume he heard Mary Whiddon’s tale.
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What is known is that now, newly-wed brides often lay a flower on Mary's tomb after signing the register.
This is said to bring good luck to the marriage, and ensure the ghost of Mary Whiddon does not haunt them for years to come.
I love a good ghost story...
Invites to the "Whiddon - Whiddon" nuptials must have looked very awkward.
Guns in 1641 were pretty inaccurate even over short distances.
Whoever shot here would have been immediately spotted by the crowd.
That is so sad. It reminds me of my wedding day. Everyone was crying. My brides mother was crying as we got married. My new bride cried on the way to the hotel. I cried when she got undressed. I mean, everyone cried that day.
Lots of people married cousins, back then. I and some of my relatives are modern-day results of some of those marriages, in the Tidewater.
Only one guy reportedly thought he saw a ghost over almost a five hundred year period.
Rodney?
Lots of people don’t report these things; like they don’t report UFOs.
There are all sorts of ghost stories - almost every family that has remained relatively intact in terms of recall of family history and stories, has one in their ancestral memory.
Someone has just told me - someone who probably KNOWS - that nobody would have worn a white wedding dress in the 1600s...
What movie are those from?
In Jamestown, or anywhere? :)
Sorry, I have no idea. The source is likely different for each. Found them on a simple images search for ghost + bride.
I certainly hope that they were tears of happiness!
You cried when she undressed? Again, hope they were tears of happiness and eager anticipation!
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