Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/158



Yorkshire Legends and Traditions, by Rev. T. Parkinson, published in 1888, the writer tells the tale of the Gray Palmer and Hylda, the Nun of Nun-Appleton on the Wharfe. The nunnery was dedicated to God and St. Mary, and was an important foundation. In 1281 the Lady Abbess invoked the aid of the Archbishop of York to lay at rest the ghost of Sister Hylda, who had haunted the place for seven years. A wild storm rolled over the place when the Archbishop began his service. Then a Palmer, in penitential dress, appeared and confessed his sin. When he reached the altar the seven candles on it were extinguished, and by the Palmer stood the ghost of Sister Hylda, and he was known to be Friar John. At the appeal of the Archbishop the spirit of the Nun relenting said, "Seek the middle pavement of the vault for the relics of a soul purified by the blood of the Redeemer," and then she and the Palmer vanished for ever.

I shall feel obliged for further particulars regarding the Nunnery and the spirit which haunted it.

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