Ghost
The Trout-Poisoned Monks
Every fifth year, five monks return to pay for one dish of stolen trout.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- A quiet road junction by the river
- Legend from
- Medieval
- Tone
- Light-hearted
At Horse Cross, ahead, five ghostly monks are said to walk every fifth year, still doing penance for a dish of stolen, poisoned trout.
Five monks are said to walk at Horse Cross every five years. According to the tale, they poached trout from the River Rib, which were not theirs to take, and died of poisoning after eating them. As if that were not punishment enough, their ghosts were condemned to return to the spot every fifth year as a penance for the theft. It is one of several Hertfordshire stories of monks and nuns who walk after death, often as punishment for some transgression, though here, as the county archivist's account drily remarks, the extra penance seems a little harsh.
One sourceOnly one written account of this legend has been found so far.