Madam Pigott or Madam Piggott is a ghost supposed to haunt the area of
Chetwynd Park
Chetwynd Park is an 18th-century landscape garden with woodland, on the edge of Newport, Shropshire.
The park can trace its history back to 1388, when it lay southeast of Chetwynd Park estate. The country house is now lost, but the medieval deer ...
and the surrounding market town of
Newport, Shropshire
Newport is a constituent market town in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's paris ...
. She bears similarities to other
White Ladies in British folklore.
The tale
The
Chetwynd Park estate
The Chetwynd Park estate lies in the small village of Chetwynd on the outskirts of the town of Newport, Shropshire, England.
The estate is positioned in a gap north of Newport, where the road having crossed the marshland, clings to a steep slope ...
was once home to the Pigott family. Squire Pigott was a neglectful husband. When Madam Pigott did fall pregnant, the birth was not an easy one. Her doctor explained to Squire Pigott that he was unable to save the lives of both his wife and baby. Upon hearing this, the squire said only that "one should lop the root to save the branch." However, the doctor's efforts were unsuccessful and both mother and child died.
Madame Pigott's spirit returned, unable to rest due to her husband's words. Every night at midnight, she appeared from a skylight of the Old Rectory in
Chetwynd. Some of her favorite places were Cheney Hill, which became known as Madame Pigott's Hill, and a twisted tree-root called Madam Pigott's Armchair. She might be seen walking the road between Edgmond and Newport or sitting and combing her baby's hair. If a rider passed through the area, Madam Pigott would leap onto the horse behind him. Her spirit was unable to cross water, so when the rider crossed a stream, she would let go.
The spirit was so well known in the area that twelve churchmen assembled to read
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
and exorcise her. All but one of the clergymen gave in to exhaustion, leaving only Mr. Foy of
Edgmond to continue reading. The prayers worked, but years after Foy's death, the ghost returned and had to be "laid" once more.
Georgina Frederica Jackson, who recorded the tale, mentioned an informant living in 1883 who claimed to have personally seen the ghost. "Madame Piggott" sightings have been recorded as recently as 2014. She has been said to appear around the A41 road between Newport and Market Drayton.
Other versions
In a Romani version of the tale, the ghost is "Miss Pigott," who died thrown from a horse at Chetwynd End. People successfully "laid" her by trapping her spirit in a bottle and throwing it into Chetwynd Pool. During a skating accident some time later, the bottle resurfaced and broke. Miss Pigott returned and plagued riders by leaping onto their horses. Twelve priests set out to exorcise her. Eleven were exhausted, but the oldest priest encouraged them and they managed to bottle the spirit a second time.
The Silky of Black Heddon is a similar White Lady. She had a preferred tree known as the Silky's Chair. She was also said to lurk in deserted roads, where she would climb on behind passing horsemen.
See also
*
List of ghosts
*
Madam Koi Koi
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigott
Newport, Shropshire
Fictional ghosts
English ghosts
Deities and spirits
Shropshire folklore