SPECTRE OF THE HORSEMAN

An old folk tale in the 1829 publication Traditions of Lancashire, written by banker, poet and writer John Roby, tells of a squire and his hunting party who became trapped in Pike Tower due to stormy weather. A member of the party was drawn from the tower to the memorial cairns on an outlying summit, known today as the Two Lads, where a ghostly horseman is said to ‘ramble these hills, sometimes in the air, sometimes on the ground, like the dark clouds and their shadows upon the soft grass, without ever a footprint’. Named the ‘Spectre Horseman’ by Roby, the unearthly form attempts to lure and capture the man’s soul, but he manages to escape to tell the tale. The horseman is said to appear on the moor every few years, ensnaring lost souls and luring them to their demise. In 1899, folklorist William E A Axon wrote a caution to Roby’s work, calling him a diligent collector of local legends, but stating that his object was purely literary and so should be read with this in mind.