The Busby's stoop chair or the Dead Man's Chair is an allegedly haunted oak chair that was cursed by the murderer Thomas Busby before his execution by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

in 1702 in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, in the United Kingdom. Due to the many deaths later attributed to people sitting in the chair, the landlord donated it to the

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological fin ...

Museum.

Background

Thomas Busby was arrested, tried and condemned to death after he murdered his father-in-law Daniel Auty (or Autie) in 1702. Auty and Busby were running a coin counterfeiting business (as well as other criminal enterprises) and they argued about the business which ended with Busby killing Auty. One variation of the story has Busby cursing the chair whilst on his way to his execution, whereas another says that he was drunk in the chair when he was arrested and cursed it then. Busby was gibbeted at

Sandhutton Sandhutton is a small village and civil parish in Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about west of Thirsk on the A167. It has been referred to as Hutton, Hutton (Sand), and Sand Hutton. The name derives from Old English ...

crossroads, beside an inn, which later had its name changed to the ''Busby Stoop Inn''. The site of the execution, opposite the pub on the A61 and

A167 The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was ...

crossroads (now a roundabout), was said to be haunted by Busby's ghost.

Deaths

Locals claimed that during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

airmen from the nearby base at

Skipton-on-Swale Skipton-on-Swale is a small village and civil parish in the Hambleton District, Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Catton, North Yor ...

went to the pub and those who sat in the chair never returned from bombing missions over mainland

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In the 1970s some fatal accidents were linked with the chair. In 1978 the chair was ultimately hung from the ceiling of

Museum to prevent occupancy, even by maintenance. A furniture historian examined the chair and found it to have machine-turned spindles, whereas 18th-century chairs were made using a

pole lathe A pole lathe, also known as a springpole lathe, is a wood-turning lathe that uses the elasticity within a long pole as a return spring for a treadle. Pressing the treadle pulls on a cord that is usually wrapped around the piece of wood or billet be ...

. He dated the chair to 1840, 138 years after Busby's execution.

Cultural references

In Episode 26 of the

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

'' Hetalia: Axis Powers'',

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

monologues to himself that he will get revenge on

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

using "Busby's Chair". However,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

sits in the chair instead, causing it to break with his ominous aura. This chair is also mentioned in one of Russia's character songs "Pechka, Light My Heart" in the lyrics "even the Busby's chair gets blown into bits". In the same series, England's character song "Pub and Go" reminds that if you sit there (in Busby's chair), you'll die and be "dragged straight down to hell". In his character song "Absolutely Invincible British Gentleman", Busby's chair is mentioned in the lyric: "In phenomena, Busby's chair, predictions". Busby's chair was mentioned in an episode of the television programme ''

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television show, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl ...

'', and a similar story about a cursed chair was included in an episode of '' Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction''.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Busby's Stoop Curses Chairs History of North Yorkshire Individual chairs English furniture