Winceby is situated about five miles south-east of Horncastle, on the way to Old Bolingbroke. It is approached by a good road, but leading up and down hills so steep as to render travelling slow, either for man or beast. The village itself stands on high ground commanding very extensive views; the church of West Keal being a conspicuous object to the east; the lofty tower of Boston looming in the distance, southward, many miles away; Tattershall Castle and Church, the churches of Coningsby, Heckington, and others in the Sleaford direction being also visible, beyond the extensive tracts of fen barred by woods, which intervene; while, on a clear day, the prospect extends across the Wash to the low-lying coast of Norfolk. Northward stretches a tract, less extensive, of varied, undulating ground, with the wooded heights of Warden Hill, Brinkhill, &c., forming the distant elevated horizon. In early spring, or on a bright autumnal day, it would be difficult to find a wider range of view, or more varied colouring, to please the eye. The parish is small, being but little more than 800 acres in extent, comprised in one large farm, the homestead of which, a large, lofty, and somewhat bleak-looking house, occupied by Mr. Edwd. Patchett, forms, with its surrounding buildings and well-filled stackyard, a prominent feature. Yet this humble village has had its associations in the past of more than ordinary interest. There are few parishes which have not some tradition connected with the supernatural; and here, on the left of the road to Winceby, in a hollow in Slash Lane, about half-a-mile before reaching the village, there stood until recent years a large boulder in the field close by. It was supposed to cover hidden treasure, and various attempts were made at different times to remove it, sometimes with six, or even eight horses. At one of these attempts, his Satanic Majesty, having been invoked by the local title of “Old Lad,” appeared, it is said, in person, whereupon the stone fell back, upsetting the horses. On another occasion a black mouse, probably the same Being incarnate, in another form (compare assistance rendered by a black mouse to the devil, in Goethe’s Faust), ran over the gearing of the horses, with a similar result. Eventually, as a last resort, to break the spell, the boulder was buried, and now no trace of boulder, black mouse, or Satan’s (Linc. “Samuel’s”) foot-print remains.