The Ghosts of Byland Abbey: Medieval Ghost Stories from Yorkshire

The Ghosts of Byland Abbey

Executive Porducer:

• Michelle Oleander

Associate Executive Producer:

• Mari Hopegood

Around the beginning of the fifteenth century, someone at Byland Abbey in Yorkshire began recording stories about ghosts said to haunt the surrounding countryside.

These were not the pale, drifting spirits of later ghost stories. The ghosts of Byland could knock men from horses, tear their clothes, follow travelers for miles, change shape and, apparently, even be physically wrestled to the ground.

Most were not simply wandering the earth to frighten the living. They had unfinished business. A debt remained unpaid, a sin required absolution, stolen property had to be returned, or some other wrong needed to be put right before the dead could finally rest.

In this Medieval Archives Halloween special, we head into medieval Yorkshire to meet some of the strange spirits preserved in the Byland Abbey stories, including Snowball the Tailor and his shapeshifting ghost, the restless Robert of Kilburn, a dead rector who refused to stay buried, a traveler pursued along a dark road, and a father who encounters the child he never knew.

So pull up a chair, pour yourself something appropriate for Halloween, and spend a little time with the dead.

Well...

the dead who refused to die.

In This Episode:

• The ghost stories recorded at Byland Abbey around 1400
• Why medieval ghosts were surprisingly physical
• Snowball the Tailor and one seriously persistent spirit
• Restless corpses, haunted roads and unfinished business
• What the stories reveal about medieval ideas of sin, absolution and the dead
• The strange and heartbreaking story of Richard Rowntree’s child

Read More:

Read the companion article: The Ghosts of Byland Abbey: Medieval Ghost Stories

• (00:00) - Medieval Archives Halloween Special
• (00:06) - Welcome to the Medieval Archives
• (02:19) - The Man with the Beans
• (03:52) - Snowball the Tailor
• (10:25) - Robert of Kilburn
• (12:02) - Stories of the Dead
• (16:25) - The Child on the Road
• (19:03) - The Sister of Adam de Lond
• (21:12) - The Stories from Byland Abbey
• (22:34) - Thank you for Listening!
• (23:15) - Become a Producer

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Creators and Guests

Host

The Archivist

Illuminating the Dark Ages for the Digital World. Podcast and website dedicated to the medieval era.

What is Medieval Archives?

The Medieval Archives Podcast explores the history, people, stories, and mysteries of the Middle Ages.

Join historian and host Gary, the Archivist, as we dig into the real medieval world, from kings, knights, popes, battles, and political intrigue to ordinary life, strange beliefs, and forgotten stories.

Each episode takes a closer look at the people and events that shaped the medieval world, separating history from legend without taking all the fun out of it.

Whether you’re a longtime medieval history enthusiast or just curious about the Middle Ages, there’s always something waiting in the Archives.

Track 1: Welcome back to the
Medieval Archives podcast, the

podcast for medieval news,
history, and entertainment. I'm

you're host Gary, aka the Archivist.
Now, today we're going to

discuss medieval ghost stories.
With Halloween right around the

corner, I thought we'd spend a
little time dealing with the

dead. Around the beginning of
the 15th century, a monk at

Byland abbey in Yorkshire began
writing down stories he had

heard about ghosts in the
countryside around the abbey.

They weren't polished stories
written for entertainment, some

are short, some are a little
confusing, and some of them end

just when you think the story is
getting interesting. They sound

like stories people have been
telling one another for years

before a monk finally decided to
write them down. And these

medieval ghosts weren't just
spooky apparitions, they could

be physical, they could shove
you off your horse, tear your

clothes, carry your belongings,
follow you for miles, and even

be wrestled to the ground if you
were brave enough or probably

foolish enough. Before we get
into the spooky stories, I'd

like to thank the producers for
this episode. We have Michele Olender

Olender, Terri Brisbin, Jessica
Philpott, Mari Hopegood, thank

you all for your support in
helping the archives stay open

and keep running. And if you'd
like to become a producer and

help support the show, visit
medievalarchives.com/support. If

you have any questions or
comments or any topics that

you're dying to hear on the show,
send them over to

[e-mail] Or
leave us a message on the

voicemail line, 720-722-1066. If
you can even send a text message

to that line, you can find all
the show notes for this episode

over at medievalarchives.com/99,
the number 9, the number 9.

Let's get into these medieval
ghost stories. And unlike some

of the ghost stories we tell
today, most of these spirits

weren't wandering around simply
looking for revenge or trying to

terrorize people. They're
walking them under living

because something was wrong. A
debt hadn't been paid, a

confession wasn't made, someone
had been excommunicated, stolen

property needed to be returned.
The debt had unfinished business.

And every so often, they needed
a living to finish it. So pull

up your chair, pour yourself a
pumpkin spice something, and

we'll begin with a man, a broken
leg horse, and a sack of beans.

There was a man traveling in a
road with a sack of beans loaded

on his horse when his horse
stumbled and broke its leg. The

man still had to get where he
was going so he took the beans

from the horse, put them on his
own back, and started walking.

As they walked along, he saw it
appeared to be another horse

standing in front of him. Except
this horse was standing upright

on his hind legs with his front
legs raised in the air. The man

was terrified and immediately
called upon the name of Jesus

Christ ordering the beast not to
harm him. It didn't attack,

instead it began walking along
the road with him, side by side.

Then after a little while, the
horse changed. The man saw it

looked like a giant bundle of
hay rolling beside and glowing

from an airy light from inside.
The man had had enough, he

called out, "God forbid you
should bring evil to me." And

the thing changed again, this
time it became a man. The man

looked at the spirit and
demanded to explain himself. The

ghost told him who he had been
and why he was walking and

explained what needed to be done
so that he could finally rest.

And after all that, he made an
offer. Let me carry the beans.

So the man agreed and the undead
took the sack from the man's

shoulder and carried it along
the road for him, and the two

continued until they reached a
river where the spirit stopped

and would not go any further.
And somehow to the man's

surprise, the beans were
returned to his back and the

ghost had disappeared. Later, he
arranged for masses to be sung

on the dead man's behalf, and
hopes that the spirit would

receive absolution. And after
that, the spirit troubled him no

more.

Our second story takes place in
North Yorkshire. It's a story of

a spirit unable to rest and
looking for absolutions for his

sins. One night a tailor named
Snowball was riding home when he

heard something down near a
stream. The sound remind him of

ducks splashing in the water and
washing themselves, and not long

after that, he saw something fly
around his head. It was a raven,

or at least something that
looked like a raven. The birds

swooped around him and dropped
toward the road violently

beating its wings against the
ground as though it had been

injured or dying. Snowball
climbed down from his horse --

maybe to help, but maybe to
catch it -- but as he approached,

he saw sparks of fire spilling
from the raven's sides. That was

enough for him. He crossed
himself, commanded the creature

in the name of God not to harm
him. The raven gave a terrible

cry and flew away. Snowball
mounted his horse again and

continued riding home. But the
bird came back. This time it

flew directly at him and struck
him in the side hard enough to

knock him from his horse. He hit
the ground stunned and

frightened. But after a moment,
Snowball got back to his feet,

drew his sword and prepared to
fight. And he swung at the thing

until he was exhausted and
finally commanded it once again

in the name of God to leave him
alone. with another horrible cry,

the raven disappeared into the
darkness. Snowball climbed back

onto his horse, but now he held
his sword across his chest in

the shape of a cross. And before
long, the thing came back a

third time. Only now it wasn't a
raven. It was a dog with a chain

around its neck. Snowball
realized simply riding away

it wasn't going to solve
anything, so he gathered

whatever courage he had and
conjured the creature in the

name of the Trinity and the
blood of Christ. He ordered it

not to hurt him. Then he
demanded that it tell him who it

was, why it was being punished
and what could be done to help.

The spirit groaned and began to
speak. It had been

excommunicated, something it
had done in life, had led to its

excommunication, and until the
matter was put right the spirit

could never rest. It told
Snowball to seek out a

particular priest and obtain
absolution on its behalf. Then

nine groups of twenty masses
were to be celebrated for the

Deadman's Souls, 180 masses. And
when all this had been done,

Snowball was a return to this
place and meet the spirit again,

alone. Snowball asked if he
might bring someone. No, but the

ghost did allow him to carry the
words of the four gospels and

other protections because it
warned him there were two other

spirits wandering nearby. The
spirits far more dangerous than

him and one would appear like
fire and the other would take

the shape of a hunter. Then the
ghost gave him another warning.

If Snowball failed to do what he
had been asked, his flesh would

rot, his skin would shrivel, and
within a short time it would

fall away from his body. As this
thing spoke, Snowball could see

the spirit itself seem almost to
burn. Looking through its open

mouth, he could see inside the
body and the voice did not come

from his tongue at all. The
words came from somewhere deeper

inside, somewhere in its bowels.
Eventually the encounter ended,

and Snowball returned home where
he became ill for several days.

When he recovered, he travelled
to York and found the priest the

ghost had named. The priest was
reluctant to grant absolution

and brought in another clergyman
to discuss the matter. Then

another joined them. There was
whispering and consultation

until Snowball finally mentioned
certain private details the

spirit had told him. The priest
looked startled as he recognized

these details. Whatever Snowball
had heard on that road, he knew

things he should not have known.
Snowball paid five shillings and

received a written absolution on
a small piece of paper, with

instructions that it was to be
buried secretly beside the dead

man's head. Snowball then went
among the religious houses of

York and arranged for the masses
the spirit had requested. On his

way home, he went to the grave
and buried the written

absolution exactly where it had
been instructed. Now only one

thing remained. He had promised
to meet the ghost again. One of

Snowball's neighbors had heard
what was happening and made him

promise not to go without first
waking him. So when the

appointed night arrived,
Snowball woke his neighbor and

told him it was time to go. "I'm
going now. If you want to come

with me, let's go." The neighbor
reconsidered, saying, "Go in the

name of the Lord and may God
help you." Then with that,

Snowball went alone. When he
reached the appointed place,

Snowball drew a large protective
circle and stood inside it. He

carried the four gospels and
sacred wards with him and around

the edge of the circle, he
placed four small reliquaries in

the shape of a cross. Then he
waited and eventually something

approached. A goat. It walked
around Snowball's circle once.

Then again, then the third time,
and as it circled it cried out,

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" The goat
collapsed to the ground, then it

rose again, but now it was a
tall, gaunt and terrible looking

man standing before him.
Something like the images of

dead kings painted in medieval
church walls. Snowball asked

whether everything he done had
helped. The spirit answered that

it had. It told Snowball that
when he buried the absolution in

the grave, three devils had been
there, tormenting the ghost

because they knew their time
with him was almost over. But

now the absolution had been
granted. The masses had been

said, and soon this spirit,
along with thirty others, would

pass into everlasting joy.
Before leaving the ghost told

Snowball how to heal the injury
he had suffered when the raven

struck him. He was to go to a
particular stream, lift a broad

stone, find a piece of sandstone
beneath it, and use the water in

the stone to wash and rub his
body. But the spirit wasn't

finished yet. There was
something Snowball needed to put

right as well. He still
possessed a hood and a gown

belonging to a friend who had
fought in the crusades, and

those clothes did not belonge to
him. Snowball claimed he didn't

know where the man was, but the
ghost did. He lived in a village

near Alnwick Castle. Now return
what you owe the spirit told him

where you will suffer for it.
Snowball asked about the other

spirits nearby, but their
location wasn't revealed. One of

those other spirits he said had
killed a pregnant woman and

appeared as a calf without eyes,
ears, or a mouth. And the other

was a hunter carrying a horn.
Then the ghost told Snowball it

would remain no longer, and with
that, the spirit disappeared. On

his way home, Snowball
encountered the strange calf,

and he tried everything he knew
to make it speak. Nothing worked.

It simply followed him.
Eventually, Snowball made it

home where once again the
encounter left him violently ill

for several days. But the spirit
he had set out to help had

received absolution. Its
business with the living was

finished, and it could finally
leave the road.

The next story is a well told
tale of a restless spirit and

young man who tried to capture
it. A man named Robert had died

and been buried at the
churchyard of Kilburn.

Burial did not keep him there.
At night, he would come out of

his grave, wandered around the
village, frightening people

while dogs followed him through
the streets barking. Some of the

young men decided they had had
enough. If Robert was going to

keep climbing out of his grave,
they were going to catch him. So

a group of them went to the
cemetery, and when Robert

appeared, almost all of them ran
away, except for two brave men

who stayed behind. One of them
was also named Robert, Robert

Foxden. And when the dead man
came out of the churchyard,

Foxden grabbed him. He grabbed
the corpse that had come out of

the grave, wrestling him onto
the church steps, and he held

him there. And the second man
shouted for Foxden to keep

holding him while he ran for the
priest, and Foxden answered, "Go

quickly, and God willing, I will
hold him firmly until the priest

survive." His companion ran off
leaving Foxden alone in the dark,

holding the dead man who had
just climbed out of his grave.

The priest came quickly. He
invoked the churnity in the name

of Christ and commanded the
spirit to answer his questions,

and the dead Robert spoke. The
voice did not come from his

mouth in an ordinary way either.
He came from somewhere his side

his body deep and hollow, like a
voice speaking from inside an

empty barrel. Robert confessed
to things he had done in his

life, and the priest absolved
him. And the two men who

captured the corpse were ordered
never to reveal what they had

heard during the confession.
Afterward, the corpse of Robert

rested peacefully. He did not
come out of the grave again.

Our next story is a strange tale
of the ghosts of a former rector

of Kirby. The man was buried in
Byland abbey, but rose from the

grave at night and traveled back
to Kirby. It's a tale of ghostly

violence, exhumed bodies, and a
very unusual solution to a

haunting. It's the story of
Jacob Tankerlay, the former

rector of Kirby. Tankerlay was
buried in Byland abbey, but

afterward he began leaving his
grave at night and traveling

toward Kirby. One night, he went
to the home of his former

mistress and injured her eye.
The attack convinced the monks

that something needed to be done.
They dug Tankerlay back up,

coffin and all, put him into a
cart, and ordered a man named

Roger Wyman to haul the body to
a nearby lake. When Roger threw

the coffin in the water, the ox,
employing the cart became

terrified and nearly drowned.
Even the monk who recorded this

story seems a little uneasy
about writing it down. He added

that he only wrote what he had
heard from his elders praying

that by doing so, no harm would
come to him. It makes you wonder

how long the people around Kirby
have been telling this story and

seeing this ghost before it
finally reached the monk at

Byland. Next is one of our
shortest stories in the whole

collection. It's about a woman
who caught a ghost. A woman

caught a ghost. That's
essentially where the story

begins and kind of ends. There's
no explanation of how she caught

it, or why she caught it, or
what she even did with it. She

caught a ghost, put it across
her back and carried it into a

house while several people
watched. One of the witnesses

claimed that her hands sink
deeply into the spirit's body,

and she held it because its
flesh was soft and rotten. And

that's it, the story ends.
Somewhere in medieval Yorkshire,

a woman carried a ghost home. It
nobody bothered to find out why,

or maybe they were too scared to
find out why. In another story,

a man found himself fighting a
ghost in broad daylight. The man

was walking through a field with
a steward when the steward

suddenly looked at something,
panicked and ran off. The man

found himself wrestling with the
spirit. The ghost tore his

clothes during the fight, and
eventually the man managed to

overpower it and force it to
speak. It turned out to be the

ghost of a canon from Newburgh.
He had been excommunicated

because he stole silver spoons
and hid them. The dead cannon

told the man where the spoons
were, and begged him to return

them to his prior so that
absolution could be obtained.

The man went to the place the
ghosts had described, and the

spoons were there. The man took
the spoons and returned them.

The spirit received his
absolution and was never seen

again. The man who fought him
however remains sick and weak

for days afterwards. There's
something that appears again and

again in these stories, meeting
the dead can make you sick, it

could hurt you. Then there's the
story of William of Bradforth.

He was an attack by a ghost, it
just followed him. For three

nights, William heard something
calling. "hoo...

hoo... hoo..." Then came the
fourth night and around midnight

William was returning home when
he heard that same terrible

voice behind him. At first it
was far away somewhere back

behind the hill. Hoo, then it
called again and it was closer.

Hoo, William kept walking, the
third cry came from somewhere up

the road. Hoo, and then William
saw a pale horse, his dog barked

at it for a moment, and then
whatever occurred, that dog had

passed by quick, and the animal
crawled between William's legs

to hide. William invoked the
name of God and commanded the

spirit to leave him alone and
let him pass. And the ghost

obeyed. As it withdrew the pale
horse, changing into something

like a sheet of canvas, rolling
over and over on itself until it

disappeared. And that's where
the story ends. And then there's

another spirit that was much
more persistent. It followed a

man for 80 miles because it
wanted his help. Before it was

finally conjured, the ghost had
thrown the poor man over a hedge,

and then caught him on the other
side. And when the man finally

confronted him, the spirit
blamed him. If you had just

conjured me in the first place,
I wouldn't have had to frighten

you. All of this trouble turned
out to be a matter involving six

pennies. Once this matter was
settled, the ghost received

absolution and rested
peacefully. Imagine being

followed for 80 miles by a ghost,
and thrown over a hedge for six

pennies.

Not all of the stories are
frightening. Some are just

uneasy, and one of the strangest
ones is also one of the saddest.

It's about a man who leaves his
pregnant wife behind to go on

pilgrimage, only to meet his
dead son along the way. Richard

Rowntree lived in the Cleveland
Hills area, and he left home

leaving his pregnant wife behind
to make the pilgrimage to the

shrine of St. James at Santiago
de Compostela. He traveled with

a group of other pilgrims, and
one night they stopped asleep in

a forest beside the road. And as
travel was dangerous, the men

set up a watch system over the
night, some would stay up to

watch, while others slept. And
eventually, Richard's turn came.

He sat awake in the darkness
while the others rested. During

the night while he was on watch,
he heard something moving along

the road. It was a procession,
moving through the darkness, but

these were no ordinary travelers.
It was a procession of the dead.

Figures passed through the night,
some riding horses, some

writing sheep and oxen, animals
that had apparently been

connected with him at death.
Richard watched them go by, and

then he saw something small on
the road, a tiny figure rolling

along the ground inside a stocking.
Richard was curious, and he

called out and demanded to know
who it was and why it was moving

in such a strange way, and the
answer stopped him cold. "You do

not need to conjure me. You are
my father, and I am your son."

The child told Richard that he
had died before he could be

baptized. He had never been
given a name. He had been buried

inside the stocking, and what
Richard saw him now. Richard

took off his shirt and wrapped
the child in it. Then, in the

name of the Trinity, he gave his
son a name, and immediately the

child changed. A moment before
it had been helpless rolling

along the road, now it stood
upright, was overjoyed and could

walk on his own feet. Richard
kept the old stocking, and

continued his pilgrimage. When
he returned home, he invited his

neighbors to a feast, then he
asked his wife, who was no

longer pregnant, to bring him
his stockings. She only brought

one. Richard produced the second
stocking he had carried all the

way home from his encounter on
the road. The woman who had

attended his wife during the
pregnancy finally admitted what

had happened, the child had died
during birth, and he had been

buried in that stocking. The part
that sticks with me is the

encounter on the road. A father
sitting awake while the pilgrims

sleep, witnessing a ghost
procession through the forest

and his tiny, unnamed child
rolling behind him, then hearing,

"I am your son." Of all the
ghosts from Byland, that may be

the most heartbreaking, a child
with no name, and a father who

didn't even know he had lost him.
In one strange meeting on a dark

road that allowed the father to
do the one thing he still could,

give his son a name.

Our last story is also about
unfinished business, but this

time the dead woman isn't
looking for a name. She wants

her property back. It's the
sister of Adam DeLond. A woman

from Ampleforth had died and
buried in the cemetery there.

Not long after her burial,
people began seeing her walking

at night. Eventually, an older
man named William Trauer caught

the ghost and conjured her. She
told him why she could not rest.

While she was alive, she had
quarreled with her husband, and

during the dispute she had given
important property deeds to her

brother Adam DeLond. After her
death, Adam used these deeds to

force her husband and sons from
their home and their land. Now

the woman regretted what she had
done. She asked William to go to

her brother and tell him to
return the deeds, restore her

property to her husband and
children and put them at her

right. Until that happened, she
could not rest. William went to

Adam and delivered the message,
only Adam didn't believe him.

William insisted that every word
was true. Then he told Adam that

if God permitted it, he would
hear the same thing directly

from his sister soon enough. The
next night, William caught the

ghost again. Only this time he
didn't just speak to her, he

brought her to her brother Adam
into his chamber. And their

brother and sister argued over
land, one living, and one dead.

Adam still refused to believe it.
He even told her that even if

she wandered forever, he would
never give these deeds back. His

sister groaned, and then she
answered him, "May God judge

between me and you." And she
told Adam that because he

refused to put things right, she
would continue walking until the

day he died, and then after that,
he would walk in her place.

People who saw the ghost noticed
something else. Her right hand

hung dark and black at her side.
Now when they asked what had

happened to it, she had told
them during her life, she often

raised that hand while swearing
false oaths. Now the hand itself

created the black mark of deceit
because of what she had done.

Eventually the villagers became
so frightened by the woman's

nightly appearance that she was
conjured away from the area. Her

story is there, but after Adam
died, his son eventually

restored at least some of the
property to her husband and sons.

These stories were written down
more than 600 years ago, but

that people don't feel 600 years
away. A neighbor promises to go

with you to meet a ghost, and
then backs out at the last

minute. Young men boast they're
going to catch a dead man

wandering in the cemetery, then
they all run away when he

appears. A dog hears something
coming down the road and barks,

then decides, "Bright, best to
hide behind your owner's legs?"

Some things are timeless, but
the ghosts belong to the

medieval world. They're not pale
figures standing at the end of

corridors or Victorian ladies
floating through abandoned

houses. These ghosts were
corpses, solid enough to hurt

you and solid enough for you to
capture. They change shape from

animals into men and from men
into fire or something nobody

quite knows how to describe.
They walk because sins haven't

been forgiven. Dets haven't been
settled and confessions weren't

made. The living aren't
powerless against them. They

confront them, they question
them, they help them. Whether

anyone around Byland Abbey
actually meant one of these

spirits on a lonely road is
something we'll never know. But

sometime around the year 1400, a
monk sat down inside of Byland

Abbey and recorded these stories.
Maybe he believed every word?

Maybe he simply thought they were
stories worth saving. At least

once, he seems uneasy enough
about what he was writing to ask

that no harm come to him for
recording what he had heard. 600

years later, and we're still
telling them.

That's going to end our ghost
stories from Byland Abbey. And

you can find the show notes,
sources, more information about

the stories we talked about at
MedievalArchives.com/99. Now, if

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Happy Halloween!