Jay's Grave

Infobox Megalith
Name = Jay's Grave
Photo = Jay's Grave, geograph.jpg
Type = Suicide's grave
Country = England
County = Devon
Nearest Town =
Nearest Village = Manaton
Grid_ref_UK = SX733799
Grid_ref_Ireland =
Coor =
Condition =
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Jay's Grave (or Kitty Jay's Grave) is supposedly the last resting place of a suicide victim who is thought to have died in the late 18th century. It has become a well-known landmark on Dartmoor, Devon, in South-West England, and is the subject of local folklore, and several ghost stories.

The small burial mound is at the side of a minor road, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north west of Hound Tor, at the entrance to a green lane that leads to Natsworthy. Fresh flowers are regularly placed on the grave, although no-one admits to putting them there.cite book|last=Stuart|first=Elizabeth|title=Devon Curiosities|publisher=The Dovecote Press|location=Wimborne, Dorset|date=1989|pages=110|isbn=0 946159 53 X] cite web|url=http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/kitty_Jay.htm|title=Kitty Jay|publisher=Legendary Dartmoor|accessdate=2008-09-25|last=|first=] cite book |title=High Dartmoor |author=Eric Hemery |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London |year=1983 |pages=726 |isbn=0-7091-8859-5]

The legend

The grave is believed to contain the bones of an orphan called Kitty Jay (some reports name her as Mary Jay), who worked at Canna Farm near the village of Manaton. As a teenager, she was apparently raped by a young farmhand and became pregnant. Such was her shame that Kitty Jay hanged herself in a barn, or, according to a different version of the story, from the great kitchen fireplace lintel.

The three local parishes of Widecombe-in-the-Moor, North Bovey and Manaton all refused to bury her body within consecrated ground, so she was buried at a crossroads - a traditional practice for suicide victims at the time. This also happened to be the point at which the three parishes joined.Fact|date=September 2008 Her remains were discovered in 1860, placed in a coffin and reburied.

The flowers that regularly appear there are the subject of local folklore - some claim they are placed there by pixies, but it is known that the author Beatrice Chase was one person who did this, before her death in 1955. Motorists, passing at night, claim to have glimpsed ghostly figures in their headlights,Fact|date=September 2008 others report seeing a dark, hooded figure kneeling there.

Modern uses of the story

Jay's Grave was the inspiration for John Galsworthy's short story "The Apple Tree", written in 1916. In the 1970s, knowledge of the legend prompted Martin Turner of British rock band Wishbone Ash to write the lyrics to a song called "Lady Jay" which appears on the band's 1974 album "There's the Rub". It also inspired Seth Lakeman to write his 2004 song and album, both called "Kitty Jay". A novel by Celia Ann Leaman called "Mary's Child" is also inspired by the legend. [cite web|url=http://www.moretonhampstead.com/legends.htm|title=Legends of the Area|publisher=Moretonhampstead Development Trust|accessdate=2008-09-25]

References