Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents, and Strange EventsBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
Yorkshire Oddities, Incidents, and Strange Events
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Legends -- England -- Yorkshire; Yorkshire (England) -- Miscellanea
Having arrived at Northwell, Mike deposited the cotton pieces and warps
in the hiding-place under the flag-stone. Joan took the shoes. The oak
box they at once burnt to prevent detection, but preserved the
contents. Mike told his wife he was afraid he had killed Sammy, and she
began to cry. He also charged Joan to keep it a secret, even from his
wife, for his revealing it would cause them both to be hanged. In
dividing the money Joan contrived to take advantage of his more crafty
companion; for he pocketed one note unknown to Mike. Mike's "Confession"
says respecting the remaining notes--"John Greenwood took the
guinea-note, and gave me the two Bank of England notes, and I gave him
nine shillings and sixpence in silver, which made it equal--one pound
ten shillings and sixpence each."
William Sutcliffe in his evidence at York said that on going from home
on Monday, February 3rd, "he left his uncle four one-pound notes and
some silver, to pay wages with in his absence. His uncle had also some
notes of his own; among others, one of Mytholm Bank, which had been
issued without the signature of Turner, Bent, and Co. It was No. 63. His
attention had been called to this note on the 1st of February (the
preceding Saturday); his uncle had brought it down-stairs in an old
book: there were also in this book another pound-note and a
guinea-note"--in all seven notes. William Sutcliffe on his return said
that Sammy's three notes were pinned in a ready reckoner. Now, on
examining the house the following morning, among some loose papers in
the window down-stairs, there were found three one-pound notes which had
escaped the notice of the robbers. These three which were left being
added to the four which Mike and Joan took away, made seven notes. It
would seem that Sammy had separated one of William's four notes from the
remaining three; that this note he had placed in his box up-stairs with
the three notes belonging to himself; and that thus his three notes and
one of William's were taken away, while three of William's notes had
been left in the pocket-book in the window down-stairs. The note which
Joan appropriated to himself, unknown to Mike, was the unsigned Mytholm
note. Had this note fallen into Mike's hands, he would probably have
observed the danger arising from the circumstance, and destroyed the
note; but the ignorant and unsuspecting Joan was not aware of the
danger.
There was at this time a set of men in the Cragg valley who went by a
bad name. In order to shift the suspicion of the murder and robbery from
himself and Mike, Joan, on his way home to Bog-eggs, instead of crossing
the valley at Foster Mill, travelled down towards Mytholmroyd, and
crossing the Calder at Carr Bridge, threw down the papers and documents
obtained from Sammy's box at Carr Green, hoping thereby to induce
suspicion that some of the Cragg band were the robbers and murderers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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