Silence is Golden?

This is Spains Hall near Finchingfield in Essex

 

And here is a strange story that goes with it.

In around 1555 a William Kempe was born in the district. In 1588 he married Philippa Gunter and they moved into Spains Hall, a very impressive red brick Tudor mansion that still stands today. They had one child, a daughter they named Jane.

William had an ungovernable temper. Although he always felt sorry after one of his outbursts and promised to change, he never did. His temper always got the better of him and poor Philippa was always the target. One day in 1621 he started an extremely fierce argument with her. The argument was because of his jealousy. Although they were in their sixties by then, he accused Philippa of seeing another man. His torrent of abuse was awful and he wife was very hurt and deeply distressed. William then took himself off into the woods to calm down. He walked up and down through the trees, going over things in his mind. He had hurt his wife so badly and something needed to be done. Suddenly, an idea came to him. It was his tongue that caused all the problems, so his tongue must pay the penalty. On the spot he made a solemn pledge not to utter another word for seven years.

The last words he spoke aloud were those he uttered in making this pledge.

Unknown to him, he was overheard by a character called “The Raven”. Raven was a man who inhabited the woods and made up potions from herbs and leaves that he could sell to people. Raven was concerned to hear this vow and confronted William, warning him that no good would come of his vow of silence and he had better think again. William only shook his head. Raven warned him again with no better response. Then Raven warned William Kempe that if he lived long enough to complete his promise, he just might find it impossible to then speak at all!

William ignored him and went home to Spains Hall. His family were horrified at his sudden silence and nothing they could do or say would make him communicate with them. Fearing he had been bewitched, they sent for the local vicar who prayed for him. This did not help. They then sent for a doctor but the doctor could find nothing wrong with him and could offer no cure. William took to writing them messages and explained to them what he was doing and why. He also communicated with a man servant in sign language. He was adamant - nothing was going to make him break his vow.

He then made another decision. To remind him of the seven years, he decided to dig seven fish ponds, one for each year of his silence and stock each one with a different species of fish. He dug out the first fishpond and within the first year, three of his servants were drowned although whether they drowned in the fish pond or in the moat which surrounded the house, is not known.

Did he then think of what Raven had said about no good coming of his pledge? He must certainly have recalled Raven’s words when in 1623 Philippa died. Even when she lay dying, he would not utter one single word to her and she must have died an unhappy woman.

The following year whilst out riding he suffered an accident when his horse stumbled and threw him. William’s leg was so badly injured that he was unable to move. He could not call for assistance either, as this would mean breaking his vow. He chose instead to spend the night on the cold ground in the pouring rain. Luckily for him a traveller came across him the following morning and managed to get him back to Spains Hall where he made a slow recovery. In the winter of 1626 he went to a nearby town on some business, taking his man servant with him so that he could communicate using their special sign language. By the time the business was concluded a storm had arisen and was growing worse by the minute. William was certain they could make it back home but the weather grew so bad that the two men had to take shelter in the ruins of a nearby castle.

They tied up their horses and went inside. They were surprised to find a fire smouldering but it was a welcome sight and they put it down to tramps having passed that way earlier. His servant soon went to sleep but William could not sleep, he was worried as to exactly why a fire had been lit and who by. He was restless and anxious. Suddenly he heard muffled voices coming from the floor above so he crept up the stairs and realized the voices were coming from behind a closed door. He put his ear to the door and was horrified the realize that they had stumbled upon a band of thieves who were planning a robbery. He was even more horrified when he heard the name of their intended target - Spains Hall!

He wasted no time in waking his man servant and making off as fast as possible. With the haste and the foul weather, he had not time to explain to his servant the reason for their sudden departure but they headed back towards Spains Hall at all possible speed. They came to a ford but it had been made virtually impassable by the torrent of water. William had no hope of getting across, he was an old man. His servant signalled he would give it a try. Kempe then quickly wrote down brief details of what he had overheard and gave the note to his servant who put it in his pocket before plunging into the river.

William decided to try and find another way home. The young servant safely arrived at the hall. When he took the note from his pocket to show other servants it was totally unreadable so none of the servants had any idea about the plot to rob the Hall or what William had been trying to write down. They did decide that he must be in some sort of serious trouble and that the best thing they could do was all go and look for him. So away they went. Later in the night the robbers reached the Hall. They must have been delighted to find the place deserted and nobody about. They went about plundering the lovely house of all the valuables they could manage. One robber went upstairs to loot the bedrooms. Whilst in one room, he saw a small movement out of the corner of his eye and he immediately drew his pistol and fired at the movement. The body of a little boy slumped at his feet.

William must have been shattered by the tragedy of the night and one would think that he would now break his vow, remembering Raven’s words that no good would come of his silence. However, he had stuck it out this long and was not prepared to back down now.

Finally, in 1628, the last fishpond was dug and stocked. The seven years were nearly over and William Kempe, now aged seventy-three went gladly upstairs to bed knowing that his last night of silence would soon be over and that, come the morrow, he could talk again. He might have been mulling over in his mind what his very first words would be.

In the morning he awoke to discover that he could not move his body at all. Kempe opened his mouth to call for help but found he could not make any intelligible noise. Eventually the servants came up to find out why he had not made an appearance for breakfast. Realizing that something was wrong, they gave him pen and paper. He was unable to write a word. His condition continued to deteriorate throughout the day and before evening he died.

Raven’s words had come true. At the end of seven years William did find that he was incapable of talking and, indeed,  he was unable ever to speak again.

Spains Hall today still occupied

*PLEASE note.  I am having trouble accessing many of your journals. I can open the journal, add a comment, but when I press save all I get is an error message and the comment is lost. When things get back to normal I will visit you all.