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
He was buried in Keighley Churchyard on the 7th of March, amidst crowds
who had come from all parts of the neighbourhood to witness the scene.
The coffin excited considerable attention from its extraordinary shape,
as his body could not be straightened, the muscles of the knees and
thighs being contracted. It was an oak chest, two feet four inches in
depth. The weight was so great that it required eight men with strong
ropes to lower it into the grave. It was thought to weigh with its
contents 480 lbs.
A gentleman who visited Old Three Laps before his death has given the
following account of what he saw:--
"If you chance to go a-skating 'to the Tarn,' and want a fine bracing
walk, keep on the Sutton road about a mile, and you will come to an
avenue of larch, not in a very thriving state, but sufficient to
indicate that some one had an idea of the picturesque who planted the
trees, although the house at the top of the avenue has not a very
attractive appearance. You have now reached 'World's End,' and save here
and there a solitary farm, with its cold stone buildings and treeless
fields, there are few signs of life between you and the wide and
boundless moors of Yorkshire and Lancashire. On the opposite hill, right
up in the clouds, is 'Tewett Hall,' the residence of a Bradford Town
Councillor. He alone, in this part, seems to follow Three Laps'
ancestors' plan of planting, and in a few years we may expect to see a
fine belt of timber on the verge of the horizon, a sight that will cheer
the heart of some future Dr. Syntax when in search of the picturesque.
At this place Three Laps 'took his bed,' and in a little parlour, with a
northern light, the sill of which is level with the field, the floor
cold and damp, and meanly furnished, it was my privilege to see Three
Laps some twenty-five years ago. To gain admission we had some
difficulty; but with the assistance of the farmer and a tin of tobacco
to the nurse, who was an inveterate smoker, we were shown into his
bedroom. As soon as he heard strangers, he pulled the bed-clothes over
his head, which the nurse with considerable force removed, and uncovered
his body, which was devoid of every vestige of body-linen. A more
startling and sickening sight I never saw. Nebuchadnezzar rushed into my
mind. Three Laps covered his face with his hands, his fingers being like
birds' claws, while, with his legs drawn under his body, he had the
appearance of a huge beast. He had white hair, and a very handsome head,
well set on a strong chest. His body and all about him was scrupulously
clean, and his condition healthy, as his nurse proudly pointed out,
digging her fist furiously into his ribs. He gave no signs of joy or
pain, but lay like a mass of inanimate matter. It struck me at the time
that his limbs were stiff; but a neighbour of his, who after his dinner
stole a peep into his bedroom window, told me that he found him playing
with his plate in the manner of a Chinese juggler, and with considerable
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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