Lady with the Ring
Encyclopedia
The "Lady with the Ring" is a story about premature burial
from European folklore
. Versions of the story were popular throughout Europe in the 14th through the 19th centuries.
) disinters the body with the intent of stealing the ring. The robber is unable to slide the ring off the woman's finger, so he prepares to cut off the finger with a knife. However, upon making the initial incision, the woman awakes, surprising the grave robber. The woman had not been dead at all, but had been the victim of premature burial
.
, the Netherlands
, France
, Scandinavia
, Italy
, England
, Scotland
, and Ireland
. The story is also told about a former resident of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
, Canada
.
, where the woman has been popularly identified as Richmodis von Aducht, the wife of Menginus von Aducht. The incident was said to have occurred in 1357, though other versions claimed that it occurred in the 16th century. There is a street in Cologne named Richmodis-Strasse on which is the "Richmodis House", where legend states that the Aduchts lived. The heads of two sculpted horses look out from a second-story window the house onto the square below.
In 1920, an ethnologist determined that there were nineteen cities in Germany that claimed that a version of the Lady of the Ring occurred there, including Hamburg
, Lübeck
, Dresden
, and Freiberg
. In eleven of the cases, there were horse sculptures that commemorated the strange ending to the story.
. However, the century before, Emma's ancestor Lady Anne Edgcumbe was commonly identified as the woman. In England, numerous other ladies with the ring have been identified, including Annot of Benallay, Lady Katherine Wyndham (wife of Sir Edward Wyndham, 2nd Baronet
), Hannah Goodman, and Constance Whitney. In Scotland, the woman was identified as Marjorie Elphinstone (second wife of Robert Drummond of Carnock
), or sometimes Margaret Halcrow Erskine. In Ireland, her name was Marjorie McCall.
woman named Marjorie McCall lived with her family in Church Place. Her husband John, a doctor, was distraught when she died following a short illness. He became even more distressed when he was unable to remove the ring she always wore. During her wake mourners tried in vain to remove the valuable ring. Grave robbing was not uncommon at the time and relatives feared that her final resting place would be desecrated owing to the presence of the ring. Sure enough, her body was exhumed shortly after the burial. Unconcerned about mutilating the corpse, thieves set about hacking off the ring finger. However, Marjorie was not dead, and was brought out of a deep coma by the sharp pain. Seeing her start to stir, the thieves fled, leaving Marjorie to make her way home. Grieving family members were surprised to hear a familiar knock on the door. Opening the door late at night to find his wife dressed in her burial robes was too much for John McCall. He fell dead on the spot, Marjorie, however, lived on. When she finally died her body was returned to Lurgan's Shankill graveyard, where her headstone remains to this day inscribed with the words "Lived Once, Buried Twice".
Premature burial
Premature burial, also known as live burial, burial alive, or vivisepulture, means to be buried while still alive. Animals or humans may be buried alive accidentally or intentionally...
from European folklore
European folklore
European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore of the western world, especially when discussed comparatively.There is, of course, no single European culture, but nevertheless the common history of Christendom during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period has resulted in a number...
. Versions of the story were popular throughout Europe in the 14th through the 19th centuries.
Central features
The central feature of the story is that a woman is buried or entombed while wearing a valuable ring. Shortly after the burial, a grave robber (often a corrupt sextonSexton (office)
A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...
) disinters the body with the intent of stealing the ring. The robber is unable to slide the ring off the woman's finger, so he prepares to cut off the finger with a knife. However, upon making the initial incision, the woman awakes, surprising the grave robber. The woman had not been dead at all, but had been the victim of premature burial
Premature burial
Premature burial, also known as live burial, burial alive, or vivisepulture, means to be buried while still alive. Animals or humans may be buried alive accidentally or intentionally...
.
Variations
The following details are included in some versions of the story:- the grave robber instantly dies of fright after the woman awakes;
- the woman walks a considerable distance from her burial spot to her home;
- the woman's husband or other people at her house think that she is a ghost and refuse her entry into the house;
- the person refusing entry to the woman tells the woman that it would be as impossible for her to return from the dead as it would be for horses to leave their stable and run up the stairs in the house; immediately after making this comparison, two neighing horses are heard and seen with their heads emerging from the second-storey windows of the house; when this occurs, the person refusing entry realises that the woman is not a ghost
- the woman lives for many more years and gives birth to numerous children.
Popularity
Versions of the story have been found to exist in almost every European country, including GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The story is also told about a former resident of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Lunenburg , is a Canadian port town in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia.Situated on the province's South Shore, Lunenburg is located on a peninsula at the western side of Mahone Bay. The town is approximately 90 kilometres southwest of the county boundary with the Halifax Regional Municipality.The...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Germany
The most famous version of the story is from CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, where the woman has been popularly identified as Richmodis von Aducht, the wife of Menginus von Aducht. The incident was said to have occurred in 1357, though other versions claimed that it occurred in the 16th century. There is a street in Cologne named Richmodis-Strasse on which is the "Richmodis House", where legend states that the Aduchts lived. The heads of two sculpted horses look out from a second-story window the house onto the square below.
In 1920, an ethnologist determined that there were nineteen cities in Germany that claimed that a version of the Lady of the Ring occurred there, including Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, and Freiberg
Freiberg, Saxony
Freiberg is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, administrative center of the Mittelsachsen district.-History:The city was founded in 1186, and has been a center of the mining industry in the Ore Mountains for centuries...
. In eleven of the cases, there were horse sculptures that commemorated the strange ending to the story.
British Isles
In 18th-century England, the woman in the story was identified as Lady Emma Edgcumbe, wife of George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount EdgcumbeGeorge Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
Admiral George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, PC was a British peer, naval officer and politician....
. However, the century before, Emma's ancestor Lady Anne Edgcumbe was commonly identified as the woman. In England, numerous other ladies with the ring have been identified, including Annot of Benallay, Lady Katherine Wyndham (wife of Sir Edward Wyndham, 2nd Baronet
Sir Edward Wyndham, 2nd Baronet
Sir Edward Wyndham, 2nd Baronet , English politician, was Member of Parliament for Ilchester from 1685 to 1687, from 1689 to 1690, and from 1690 to 1695....
), Hannah Goodman, and Constance Whitney. In Scotland, the woman was identified as Marjorie Elphinstone (second wife of Robert Drummond of Carnock
Robert Drummond of Carnock
Sir Robert Drummond of Carnock was Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland from 1579 to 1583. This was the responsibility for building and repair of palaces and castles. His appointment was made to be "as Sir James Hamilton of Finnart had it."...
), or sometimes Margaret Halcrow Erskine. In Ireland, her name was Marjorie McCall.
An example: Marjorie McCall
In the early 18th century a LurganLurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
woman named Marjorie McCall lived with her family in Church Place. Her husband John, a doctor, was distraught when she died following a short illness. He became even more distressed when he was unable to remove the ring she always wore. During her wake mourners tried in vain to remove the valuable ring. Grave robbing was not uncommon at the time and relatives feared that her final resting place would be desecrated owing to the presence of the ring. Sure enough, her body was exhumed shortly after the burial. Unconcerned about mutilating the corpse, thieves set about hacking off the ring finger. However, Marjorie was not dead, and was brought out of a deep coma by the sharp pain. Seeing her start to stir, the thieves fled, leaving Marjorie to make her way home. Grieving family members were surprised to hear a familiar knock on the door. Opening the door late at night to find his wife dressed in her burial robes was too much for John McCall. He fell dead on the spot, Marjorie, however, lived on. When she finally died her body was returned to Lurgan's Shankill graveyard, where her headstone remains to this day inscribed with the words "Lived Once, Buried Twice".