On
Sunday 24th September, 1786, an innocent sailor was viciously murdered by
three assailants for the wages he carried in his pocket. The sailor was making
his way from to Portsmouth in order to board a ship, and stopped at an inn on
the way to quench his thirst. He befriended three other sailors, buying them
ale with a golden guinea that he had received after his last sea trip. The
sailor's new companions' eyes shone at the sight of the money, and they
plotted to rob the man of his wages. The four men left the inn together and
walked
the
Portsmouth road as far as the village of Hindhead. The plotting men, dizzy
from the ale that the kind sailor had bought for them, turned on their walking
companion, hitting him with sticks and slashing at his throat.
By
the time they had completed their evil deed, the sailor's head was nearly
separated from his body and his corpse was naked and robbed of all
possessions. The three murderers were eventually caught when they tried to
sell their victim's clothes in a nearby village.
On 17th
April, 1787, the wicked threesome were hanged in Hindhead, and their bodies
were enclosed in iron frames that were suspended from a wooden gibbet for all
to see.
A
memorial stone was erected at the site of the murder, funded by the local
people who took pity on the poor unidentified sailor.
Since
that fateful night in 1786, many people have witnessed strange figures
wandering around the memorial stone. It is thought that these are the ghosts
of the three murderers, forced to return to the Earth on dark nights as
punishment for their crimes.
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