The Buckland Shag Morris Men and the legends

The Buckland Shag Morris Men are still Morris dancing for the Millennium, continuing the ancient English tradition.    Every Mayday, the Buckland Shag dancers announce their arrival on Buckland Village Green at dawn (usually about 05.15 a.m. ), beating their drums up Rectory Lane , and dancing for an hour or so on the Green. Attendance is strongly recommended, with a cup of hot coffee and the excuse to return home in time for a cooked breakfast before work!

We are pleased that although the group practice at Leigh Village Hall, they retain the name of the ‘Buckland Shag’ for its association with the legend repeated below from The Surrey Magazine (1900):

A shallow steam crosses under the main road in Buckland, near the Jolly Farmers Pub.  According to legend, it used to be a silent and very lonely spot.  The Story is told of how a farmer's beautiful daughter was courted by the son of a squire.  One evening they were walking together beside the stream and halted by a large stone that stood there.  The young man talked earnestly to the girl, making a most improper suggestion.  Shocked beyond description when she realised what he was proposing, she fell dead at his feet.  The would-be seducer was then seized by remorse at the result of his wickedness, and drawing out a dagger, he stabbed himself through the heart.  In the morning their bodies were found side-by-side and the nearby stone was found trickling with blood.  No wiping or cleaning could stem the flow, and it continued to bleed as a grim reminder of the tragedy.

After this event, a fearsome four-legged beast, ape-like with a shaggy coat, was supposed to squat behind the bleeding stone at midnight , beside the stream that still bears the name, Shag Brook .

It was a brave villager that dared to pass that way at night.  One Buckland man, after a night’s drinking session at a Reigate ale-house, swore that if the Shag appeared, he would fight it off with his trusty Hawthorn stick. As he walked home across the meadow near the brook, The Shag suddenly appeared in front of him.  The man struck out with his stick, which landed with a thud.  In an instant the man became sober and overcome with panic, jumping a stile and running as fast as he could across the field, with the Shag monster following behind.   He only just escaped its wrath - so the story goes.

In about 1800 a team of four horses was returning to Reigate one night after delivering corn to Dorking.  As they came to the stone beside the Shag Brook they suddenly stopped.  No amount of yelling or whipping by the driver would make the horses take another step forward.  The horses were trembling and sweating with fear.  When day broke a single horse was able to pull the wagon across the brook that the four could not or would not cross the night before.   By the late 1800's the Lord of the Manor ordered the stone to be removed to his own grounds to quiet the superstitious fears of his tenants.  The Buckland Shag was exorcised by the Rector of Buckland, the Reverend Willoughby Bertie , with bell, book and candle.  

This tale goes well with the mysteries and traditions of Morris dancing, and helps explain why the Morris Men retain the name of the Buckland Shag.   This is despite a letter to dispel the myth immediately following the article in 1900, in a letter from Francis Henry Beaumont   to The Surrey Magazine:

‘Sir - I have read with interest your account of the Buckland Shag in the Surrey Magazine for January.   A much less weird version of the story has prevailed since I have resided in Buckland - for over 40 years.   In former times the stream which crosses the Reigate Road near the Jolly Farmers public house was not covered over, as it is at present by a culvert.   By the side of the road was a very large stone composed of conglomerate ‘pudding stone’.   The story goes that a white lady appeared nightly and sat on the stone, and horses invariably shied at the lady.   When the brook was arched over, I, as Lord of the Manor, had the stone removed into my garden, where it now remains.  The stone has always been known as the Buckland Shag and the little stream which comes down from the chalk hills is called Shagbrook’.