October 16, 2018

Haunted History – The Legend of Moll Dyer – the Witch of Leonardtown, MD

Elizabeth H. Heels on the Battlefield, Maryland, Pumps, Shoe Bliss, Travel Adventures, United States Ann Taylor Factory, Cannon, curse, Fashion Blogger, feet problems, ghosts, Haunted History, haunted rock, INC International Concepts, Leonardtown, Leonardtown courthouse, Leonardtown history, Maryland history, Moll Dyer, moll dyer curse, Moll Dyer Road, Moll Dyer Rock, Moll Dyer Run, Moll Dyer's Rock, nylon, old jail, Outfit Ideas, pantyhose, rock, Shoe Blogger, Southern Maryland, southern maryland history, St. Mary's County, St. Mary's County history, St. Mary's witch, The Ark, the Legend of Moll Dyer, the witch of leonardtown, torturedSoles, Vince Camuto, Vince Camuto Airmosah, white skirt, witches 31 Comments

Perhaps I would have reconsidered the brazenness of this pose had I been more familiar with Moll Dyer’s story.  I contacted the guru of Southern Maryland, my best friend, William, for more insight.  His tongue and cheek response:

“I touched the rock.”        

I revealed to him I did worse than that; I did the Moll Dyer pose and sent him the cover shot. 

William being William replied:

“It’s a shoe blog.  Sexy pose with one foot on the rock.”

Yeah, William, I did that too…

William immediately exclaimed:

“You are so screwed!”

My body froze as a rush of uncertainty came over me and I chided William for scaring me.  Yet, we would not be the first ones to fear this rock.  People who have gone near the rock or touched it have reported dizziness, coughing spells, and even fainting.  The legend of Moll Dyer and her cursed rock have been local folklore for over 300 years.

In the late 17^th century, Leonardtown (known as Seymour Town during that period), MD was a peaceful colony situated on Breton Bay.  The colonists farmed (mostly tobacco and corn) and tended to their livestock.  It was a quiet existence of hard work, faith, and community.  Neighbors supported one another in times of need.  That is all, but for one lonely inhabitant:  Moll Dyer.

Moll Dyer was an older woman, tall and thin, who lived alone in a modest cottage in the woods a mile or so from the Leonardtown settlement.  No one knew much about her, but rumors ran rampant.  It was said Moll was a beautiful woman with long wavy red hair in her younger years.  She was happily married to a handsome fellow and the couple had two boys.  They enjoyed a life of luxury back in Ireland until an unforeseen tragedy changed Moll’s life in an instant.  Her beloved husband and two young boys were on their way back home when an accident deprived them of their lives.  Moll’s feelings of uneasiness hinted at some calamity.  Yet, she brushed those feelings aside until she saw for herself the lifeless, mangled bodies of the three most important men in her life.

Moll fell to her knees, one hand on her husband’s contorted body and the other raised to the heavens as she let out a shriek so loud even the most ferocious bear cowered in the shadows.  WHY?!  She cried and prayed to no avail.  She eventually crawled to her two little boys and held them each one last time singing a familiar lullaby.  She kissed them each and whispered parting words as villagers scooped her up and brought her home. 

In the years that followed, Moll’s grief remained inconsolable.  It bore a hole in her heart so big she never recovered.  Every sight in her home had a memory of her boys.  She could bear it no more.  Moll boarded a ship to Maryland in October 1677 and promised herself to never love that deep again because the fear of loss a second time would be too painful to endure.

Thereafter, Moll’s life in Maryland was mostly solitary.  She had a white dog as her faithful companion to match her now silvery-white hair, still long and wavy.  Sadness etched the deep lines in her face erasing any lingering signs of youth.  Moll busied herself with herb lore and visited with Indians much to the colonists’ dismay.

“How can that old hag entertain those heathen savages,” quipped one.

Yet, Moll never succumbed to hearsay and rarely conformed to local norms.  She was perfectly content living as a recluse.  Her behavior only became suspect when stories about her idiosyncrasies became more than just the odd woman living alone in the woods. 

“I heard her chanting spells!”

“I saw her making potions!”

“She walked by my farm and the next day my animals were dead!”

The citizens surmised Moll Dyer must be a witch!  Now, that wasn’t an absurd conclusion given the time period.  In neighboring Calvert County, Rebecca Fowler was hanged as a witch in 1685.  Then, in the early 1690s, the Salem witch trials were happening in colonial Massachusetts.  Adding to the hysteria was influential Puritan minister, Cotton Mather, who attempted to prove demons were real.

Yet, the colonists lived a cautious co-existence with Moll.  They bartered with her for elixirs to alleviate ailments in exchange for herbs and sustenance.  On the rare occasion Moll would come into town, most would oblige her for fear of repercussion otherwise.

Then came the winter of 1697/98 when North America entered a mini ice age.  Of course, meteorology did not exist in the 17^th century, so to the colonists, it was the “longest winter we have ever known” (Council of MD Proceedings).

Food was scarce causing famine and death.  Livestock was also dying from the below freezing temperatures.  Finally, a flu epidemic hit Leonardtown causing deaths to double that winter.  There seemed to be no end to the extreme winter.  Nor was there a suitable explanation for the cold and suffering unless you consider the supernatural as a possible explanation…   

On the coldest night of the year in February, the men of Leonardtown were huddled at the County Alms House drinking and commiserating.  So many dead in their town!   Children still dying and all the while Moll Dyer is surviving the winter unscathed!

“Her witchcraft saves her,” yelled one.  

“Aye!”  They all agreed. 

Stewing in shameful thoughts, the men continued to drink as resentment settled into their cold hearts.

Then, one of them stood up and with careless abandon stoked the ire of the angry mob.

“We shall burn the witch before she kills the rest of us!”

The men hoot and hollered before taking one last swig.  Then, they grabbed torches and lanterns as they stormed out into the bitter cold.  The woods were dark and the snow was deep.  The march was arduous, but the men persevered with a nefarious purpose.

Finally at Moll Dyer’s cottage, the inebriated men yelled profanities and insults goading her to come out and use her witchcraft on them.  Moll, awakened by the commotion, lie still in her bed.  Fear settled in as she wondered what she did to cause such anger.  The mob persisted banging on her door and then one of them threw a rock at her window, breaking the shutters.  Moll jumped out of bed fearful of what they would do to her.   A torch was thrown into the broken window and a fire started.  More torches were hurled at the house and the fire spread.  Moll screamed as her dog barked and the men laughed mockingly.  As they closed in, Moll and her dog jumped out of a back window.  She wore only her white night gown as she and her faithful companion fled into the woods.  Moll’s silvery white hair blowing with every stride making her look like an apparition in the night eventually dissipating into blackness.  The men did not pursue her.  Rather, they watched her cottage burn down as they patted each other on the back.  Their moment of glee was interrupted by a shriek so loud, the men quickly retreated home in silence.     

Some days later, a little boy was in the woods searching for lost livestock.  He came across an object sticking out of the snow.  Curious, he approached it and came face to face with a dead Moll Dyer!  She was kneeling at the rock.  Her one hand was pressed on the rock as if for balance and her other hand raised up to the heavens in prayer perhaps.  However, the colonists would come to believe, Moll was actually setting a curse of misery and suffering on their families and their land as she surrendered to death. 

When she was removed from the rock, her hand had to be pried off.  Shockingly, there was a deep imprint of Moll Dyer’s hand on the rock.  Moll had left her mark physically and though no longer here, her presence can still be felt around those woods on Moll Dyer Road.

My Forever BFF, Tammy, and I took a drive on that road just last week. 

The deeper we got on that road, the heavier the atmosphere felt!  The street is lined with houses and the woods are no longer accessible to the public.  We saw many signs declaring the area “private property” and “no trespassing.”  That was for the best considering how uneasy we felt.  We couldn’t imagine being on this road at night!  We quickly turned around and got out of there. 

 

To this day, people claim to see a woman in white with silvery white hair haunting the area.  Accidents occur on Moll Dyer Road late at night when a white dog jumps out of the woods into the path of oncoming cars and then disappears back into the woods.  Even descendants of some of the founding families claim the curse still haunts them. 

And then there is Moll Dyer’s cursed rock.  Lost for centuries, it was found in 1972 in a wooded ravine near Moll Dyer Road.  Too heavy to carry at 875 lbs., the National Guard was called to transfer the rock to the Leonardtown courthouse.  They placed the rock next to the old 1876 jailhouse where it is currently located.  The handprint is not so visible anymore, but you can still feel it if you dare touch it! 

 

 

 

Happy Hauntings! 

Author’s Note:  Very few facts are known about Moll Dyer and as such authors have taken artistic license to create a compelling story.  In researching, I found there are many variations to her story.  This is my interpretation and I have also taken artistic license.  Along with internet research, I used two short books my dad gave me about Moll Dyer as references.  The two books were written by Janeen Kelley Grohsmeyer.  Dad purchased the books at the gift shop at Point Lookout State Park, Maryland back in 2000.

Lizzy’s Latest Note:  I’d be remiss if I didn’t give more details about these heels and this shoot.  We had the photo shoot at the Leonardtown courthouse where the Moll Dyer rock is located.  I am wearing flirty Vince Camuto Airmosah d’orsay pumps in two tones of blue.  The foot area is indigo and the heel area is jean blue.  They are very sexy to wear and I’m able to wear them because I have my secret weapon:  tortureSoles anti-slip pads!  They work!  They really, really work!   🙂  In an ongoing collaboration, I’ve added the torturedSoles logo to my sidebar for easy access to their site.  Please check it out and use code “LIZZY” at checkout for 50% off your purchase!  

Style with a Smile!