Devil
The Blind Fiddler of Anstey
His fiddle shrieked underground, then stopped; only his singed dog came back.
See it clearly
- What's there
- A Norman castle mound and the village pub named after him
- Legend from
- 1600s–1700s
- Tone
- Chilling
Close by is Anstey, where a blind fiddler marched into a tunnel to meet the Devil, and only his singed, tailless dog ever came back out.
A tunnel known as the Devil's Hole was said to run from a chalk pit called Cave Gate to Anstey's Norman castle mound. One night a blind fiddler named George, emboldened by drink at the village inn, vowed to walk it with his dog, though the Devil himself waited at the end. Villagers followed the sound of his fiddle across the fields until, about halfway to the castle, the music rose to a shriek and stopped. His dog burst out of the cave without its tail, its fur singed, and was never seen again. Nor was George. The entrance was sealed, and snow is said to melt first along the tunnel's line.