Ruth is Stranger Than Fiction

27th October heralded our third live show at the Museum of Cambridge. The topic was a short history of Cambridge Castle, Castle Mound, and the Cambridge gaol that stood on the site for many years. Discussion ranged all over the place: Cromwell, pease pudding, long drop vs short drop hangings, masonry, and much more. We also covered the stories of some of the most notorious criminals to be incarcerated in the old and new prisons, so expect the usual servings of arsenic, arson, and arseing about.

The image shows Cambridge Castle gateway in June 1841.

A ghost that is also a witch? It must be Hallowe’en! October 1944 brought a cluster of strange goings on to the Essex village of Great Leighs. Clocks losing time, rabbits with eggs, and all sorts of troublesome behaviour in the guest bedroom of the St Anne’s Castle pub. Locals blame the disturbance of a large boulder on nearby Scrapfaggot Green. It’s a media frenzy, and even Time Magazine is running the story!

Image credit: Courtesy Bryce Canyon National Park, Photographer Maurice Cope, Museum Catalog Number BRCA 532/001-#439

Burnham Market, 1835. The folk of this North Norfolk village were shocked by a series of mysterious deaths as one by one, the residents of a row of a trio of cottages began to sicken and perish. Was it cholera, or something more sinister? Spoiler: it wasn’t cholera. But in that case, what had brought these people to their untimely ends? And was there any connection between these deaths and a murder trial that had taken place in nearby Wighton three years earlier?

What happens when a Norfolk doctor of coarse manner and peculiar habits ends up hobnobbing with the society types of 18th century London? Find out in this mini episode as we hear the story of Dr Messenger Monsey.

It’s part 2 of our smuggling double! Listen up for the story of a most ill-fated smuggling operation involving a muck heap, an incriminating beer bung, and a whole bunch of inns and drunken dragoons. We also address the decline of the free trade which does, I’m afraid, necessitate some further talk of UK tax systems.

How do you enjoy your tea, gin, and tobacco? In 18th century England the answer was simple: smuggled into the country without paying due taxes please! Yes, it’s time for the Ruth is Stranger team to tackle the topic of smuggling. It’s part customs and excise, part noses getting snipped off, and part wondering whether your favourite podcasters will be poisoned by an unpleasant and potentially toxic cocktail.

‘The Smugglers’ by George Morland, from The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

The Foyster family are about to arrive at the infamous Borley Rectory and encounter for themselves the disruptions and peculiarities of this creaking old pile. Marianne receives messages from beyond the grave (or does she?), family intrigues abound, and Harry Price continues to investigate. We also drink a new cocktail: Pebbles Down the Stairs. It’s Borley part 2!

It’s time for the most haunted house not just in East Anglia, but in all of England! Welcome to the first of our two part series about Borley Rectory. This creaking old Victorian pile became infamous for multiple ghost sightings, poltergeist activity, and bad plumbing. In Part 1 we explore the early years of the rectory under the stewardship of the credulous Bull family. We are also reunited with psychical investigator Harry Price, who played a central role in cementing the legends of Borley for years to come.

This episode the story begins, as it so often does, with a gruesome East Anglian murder and a sentence of death by hanging. But who will carry out that sentence? Whose shoulders must carry the fullest and harshest weight of the British law? That’s where the Pierrepoints come in. Henry, Thomas, and Albert, executioners all! Their paths were to cross with those of some of the most notorious criminals of the 20th century, and some of those unfortunate enough to suffer the most terrible miscarriages of justice.

Curses! Lice! Urine! Witch balls! A special episode recorded at our second live event, held at the Museum of Cambridge on 28th October 2022. Using examples from the Museum’s wonderful collection of artefacts from historical Cambridge and the surrounding lands (along with a few homemade props), we explore beliefs about witchcraft and the kinds of protective magic that the people of East Anglia used to guard against curses and the evil eye.

If your podcast client supports chapter art you can see the slides from the night along with this episode, otherwise head over to our blog to see all.

Episode photograph: corp chreadh, © Museum of Cambridge