The story of the curse in question is based in the two journals of Lady Dilks (1825- 1846). One was written when she was 12 and the other when she was 27. She writes about her great grandmother who was known to be an evil woman, often seen in cemeteries at night wearing all black.
At one point she is recorded as saying, “If they should disturb my remains, which lie buried at this place I command that they will live a thousand lives full of misery and then die a cruel death.”
Do you know whose grave is widely said to carry a curse against whoever disturbs it? If not, Check out here!
This is a perfect introduction to an informative blog post about why legends about curses are facts. The next section in the blog is about frequently asked questions about this legend. The first question asks, “What was her name?” The answer states that it’s unknown who exactly laid the curse on these remains.
Here some points are discussed-
1. Many believe the original tombstone has been taken.
A distant relative who believed it to be a valuable piece of stone. I think this is highly unlikely. There are no signs of metal fragments in the area proving any excavation has been done. Some believe that because it’s believed to be an evil woman, of course it’s cursed.
The truth is, whether it was a female or male, there are curses on many people of the past that may not be well known to us now. I think this element of what happened to this person is unknown and everything else should be taken with a grain (or two) of salt.
2. Who laid the curse is unknown.
If you believe that, you’ve got a lot of belief in your head but it doesn’t make it real in my opinion. It’s up to us to let people know that it’s a true story and not just a legend. Even if this happens in our lifetime, who knows what they’re capable of doing?
No one knows the truth behind Lady Dilks’ story except those who were there at the time it happened and the author of her journals. A name is irrelevant for this story because it doesn’t matter what person laid the curse because there are plenty more where this came from… with even more ghost stories surrounding them!
3. The dead person’s remains are actually gone.
Yes! In the tradition of haunting being real, this is a fact. The body was once there and now it’s gone, long after the curse was said to have been laid.
Following this section in the blog post, there are additional pictures detailing more facts about this story including the location where her grave is located, the height that her body should be able to reach if it’s still buried there and an explanation of why many don’t believe that is possible. This story proved more interesting than I ever anticipated but I’ll go back and talk about other legends (like Bloody Mary) later!
4. Why doesn’t she haunt the graveyard where she is supposedly buried?
This is a popular question and the answer, in my opinion, is fairly simple. I’m not sure why it’s considered to be more haunted than other locations but that’s up to you to decide! I know why I think that this tale has more of an evil vibe compared to some of the other legends from the past that are still prevalent today.
I think the element of this story that is the most evil is the fact that it’s a family member vowing to come back and haunt those who disrespected her grave. Also, there’s clear evidence of the curse being real no one knows what the future has in store for those who upset her.
5. How come people who’ve seen her didn’t make a recording of it?
I’m not sure how popular this story was back in Lady Dilks’ time (1825- 1846) but that doesn’t mean no one would have believed them if they had. There are other stories on this blog that are said to have happened years ago and I’m positive readers don’t question their validity because there are too many people who’ve seen them or experienced something similar themselves.
If anything, I think these stories grow with time, which is why we hear about them today.
6. Is the curse still in effect?
I’m not sure when it stopped being in effect but I think it’s safe to assume that anyone who bothered the buried remains of Lady Dilks is probably dead by now. The question of why it isn’t still in effect is explained pretty well in this blog post.
