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.
Read more: 89 stand-out memories from the Preston area of Paignton
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.
You can stay up to date on the top news near you with DevonLive's FREE newsletters – enter your email address at the top of the page or sign up to our newsletters here
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.
Totally agree!
Makes me irritated by a episode of one of my favorite shows, Friends.
Monica wants a huge expensive wedding and Chandler gives his savings to her for that.
I find that selfish.
Wow! Yet another reason to move to Texas! Lived there for a while. Love that state!
Not a state to be “messed with.” ;)
Unless you were wealthy you never had a wedding dress at all. You just wore your best dress with maybe a flower garland in your hair and left it at that.
Merchant class might have a veil that was used at all family wedding.
Wealthy people did have very nice dresses made but unless they were queens they expected to wear them more then at the wedding.
A lot of our current customs seem to come from that era. I think that commonly having Christmas Trees indoors does, too.
Yeah, I suppose it never works out. But some teenagers got lovely prom dresses!
:)
All the best,
Julie
Did you ‘see’ anything?
It is accurate. Before Victoria, white was a "mourning" color. The link is HuffPo but they are correct.
One reason white was unconventional in Queen Victoria’s time is that it was generally seen as the color for mourning, according to The Washington Post. Members of the royal court also thought the queen’s white dress was too restrained for a royal, as it wasn’t overly embellished, Time reports.
We Can Thank Queen Victoria For Popularizing White Wedding Dresses
That is very interesting.
The wedding industry has become out of control.
Others on this thread have pointed out that they have to cough up exorbitant amounts of money for their children’s weddings. It’s just not right.
Save the money for a downpayment on a house.
I never thought of that!
I hope some young ladies had fun at their proms sashaying in peach and pink...
I think white is the mourning color in some Asian countries, too.
We paid a little under $16K for our daughter .... included putting up some hotel rooms for family.... my husband worked for the resort. Yes you are right it should have run $36K or more, but paid at cost.
Yes. Japan dresses their dead in white.
Creeperific!
Would you rather women wedding for the second or third time wear a a white dress - or a dress where they are letting it all hang out?
I would like them to be discreet and elegant. Flowers are enough to indicate a very special occasion.
A froufrou white wedding dress and veil is sort of a lie, for a second or third marriage, isn’t it? Certainly ‘things hanging out’ - as if nobody has seen them before - would be.
But I’m very old-fashioned in certain ways...
I once addressed a letter using red ink, to a Korean person.
I was severely admonished - they told me that letters addressed in red ink indicated death, to them.
I’ve never seen corroboration of that anywhere else, but I trust that it’s true; so I don’t get creative with my mail letters anymore :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.