Among the more prominent of the demon superstitions prevalent in Lancashire, we may instance that of the _Spectre Huntsman_, which occupies so conspicuous a place in the folk-lore of Germany and the North. This superstition is still extant in the Gorge of Cliviger, where he is believed to hunt a milk-white doe round the Eagle's Crag in the Vale of Todmorden, on All-Hallows' Eve. His hounds are said to fly yelping through the air on many other occasions, and under the local name of "_Gabriel Ratchets_," are supposed to predict death or misfortune to all who hear the sounds.[68] The "_Lubber Fiend_," or stupid demon, still stretches his hairy length across the hearth-stones of the farm-houses in the same district, and the feats of the "_Goblin Builders_" form a portion of the popular literature of almost every locality. They are said to have removed the foundations of Rochdale Church from the banks of the river Roach, up to their present elevated position. Samlesbury Church, near Preston, possesses a similar tradition. The "_Demon Pig_" not only determined the site of St. Oswald's Church, at Warwick, but gave a name to the parish. The parochial church at Burnley, it is said, was originally intended to be built on the site occupied by the old Saxon Cross in Godly Lane; but, however much the masons might have built during the day, both the stones and the scaffolding were invariably found where the church now stands, on their coming to work next morning. The local legend states that on this occasion, also, the goblins took the form of _pigs_, and a rude sculpture of such an animal, on the south side of the steeple, lends its aid to confirm and perpetuate the story. Our peasantry retain the notion so prevalent in North Germany, that the _Night-mare_ is a demon, which sometimes takes the form of a cat or a dog, and they seek to counteract its influence by placing their shoes under the bed with the toes outwards, on retiring to rest. The _Water Sprites_, believed in by our ancestors in the north of England, still form a portion of the folk-lore of Lancashire and Yorkshire. There is scarcely a stream of any magnitude in either county which does not possess a presiding spirit in some part of its course. The stepping-stones at Bungerley, near Clitheroe, are said to be haunted by a malevolent sprite, who assumes almost as many shapes as Proteus of old. He is not known by any particular designation, nor are there any traditions to account for his first appearance; but at least _one_ life in every _seven_ years is required to appease the anger of the spirit of the Ribble at this place. It was at these stepping-stones that King Henry VI. was treacherously betrayed by a Talbot of Bashall and others; whence may have arisen a tradition of a malevolent spirit at that place.