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| Ye Olde Man and Scythe |
Last month, an article published in a local Bolton newspaper, Bolton News, caught my attention.
To be honest I am not sure whether to laugh or cry at this news . . .
A Chinese artist, Lu Pingyuan traveled all the way from Shanghai to Manchester in order to steal the decapitated ghost that haunts this Bolton pub.
It is believed this ghost is that of James Stanley—he was the Seventh Earl of Derby. Stanley was a Royalist whose family originally owned the pub—the Scythe is the 4th oldest pub in Britain.
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| Video is on my original post. |
The Earl is thought to have spent his last few hours in the inn before he was taken out and executed—he was beheaded in 1651 near the end of the Civil War.
The chair where the Earl sat before his death is still in the pub.
Pingyuan upon seeing a video of the Earl’s ghost in 2014 decided he must capture it. He followed the ghost into the Scythe’s restroom and then performed “an incantation” to trap it in a bottle.
Recently, Pingyuan has had this ghost on display in a traveling exhibition. When Richard Greenwood, the pub’s owner found out this exhibition was on display at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester he wrote Pingyuan a letter.
Greewood expressed he wished he had known about Pingyuan’s intention before he removed the ghost. He feels this removal has unbalanced the natural order of things and he misses this spirit.
Greenwood also states he would have allowed the ghost of Stanley to be exhibited—for the world to see—but that he would have insisted the ghost be returned to its home at the pub after this.
Greenwood also states he would have allowed the ghost of Stanley to be exhibited—for the world to see—but that he would have insisted the ghost be returned to its home at the pub after this.
This article did not mention if Greenwood has received a response.