If you have ever lived in Maine, or even if you’ve just visited here a time or two, you are probably familiar with the cursed grave stone in Bucksport. It’s a very popular folktale in Maine. So much so that when I finished writing my book, The Gathering Room - A Tale of Nelly Butler, about a dozen people asked me if I were going to write about Captain Buck’s stone next. Although I agree its an intriguing story, I have no plans at this time to fictionalize it. But that doesn’t mean that this piece of Maine’s history, that I grew up hearing about, isn’t far from my mind! And that’s is exactly what happened when we were in England. You won’t believe this one!

So let me bring everyone up to speed on the cursed gravestone of Captain Buck. I’ve added a picture of it to the top of this blog. As you can see there is a foot very visible on the front of the stone. The folktale states that Captain Buck, as the founder of the town of Bucksport, found a woman guilty of witchcraft and had her burned at the stake. As she was being burned alive she cried out that she would curse Captain Buck with a witches curse for all eternity. Or something like that. As is the case with a lot of folktales there are variations. Some say her leg rolled out of the fire and landed in front of Captain Buck. Others say her son cursed the captain and specifically said that his tomb would bear the mark of a witch’s foot! In any event you get the idea. The tale continues on that after Captain Buck died this foot appeared on his gravestone. His family was horrified and had the stone sanded down only to have the foot appear again. Determined to get rid of this evidence of the witch’s curse they replaced the stone, only to have the foot appear on the new stone as well. To this day you can travel to Bucksport, park in the really nice parking area the town has made, and see the stone for yourself. It’s quite remarkable.

As with a lot of folktales the history and facts don’t quite match up with the story. Captain Jonathan Buck died in 1795, ironically the same year that George & Nelly Butler began having trouble with Lydia Blaisdell just a few miles away. It’s often stated that Captain Buck was an honorable man and the founder of the town of Bucksport. That he also built the first boat, but he was only a Justice of the Peace and so therefore would have had no authority to charge or put on trial anyone for any crime. There is also no historical evidence that any one was ever charged with witchcraft in what would become the State of Maine. Certainly there was enough evidence for the townspeople in Franklin & Sullivan to think witchcraft in regards to Lydia Blaisdell, but yet no charges were ever brought against her. So it’s highly unlikely that Captain Buck charged this unnamed woman with witchcraft in his own town either. There is also no records of any witch being burned at the stake in America at all. So as you can see holes are starting to form in this folktale. But the final nail in the coffin (sorry!) on this story is that this monument to Captain Buck was erected 75 years AFTER his death. His real gravestone is in another location in the cemetery and it is unblemished. So as you can see a curse from a burning witch is probably not the answer to why this stone has a foot on it, but it makes a great folktale!!

So what does this cursed tourist attraction in Bucksport Maine have to do with my trip to England? I’ll tell you! We stopped at Skipton Castle on our travels through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales area. It is truly a beautiful and well maintained castle and if you ever get the chance to visit there I highly suggest it. For those that follow me on social media you may remember that Skipton Castle was the location of my ghostly encounter with the disembodied voice that insisted they “needed” the self guiding tour sheet that my son said he did not need. So this castle already held some memorable moments for me!

As we walked around the castle we saw carvings of some kind carved into the stone walls. These were found mostly in the rooms and areas that would have been the work places of staff or servants, the kitchen, storerooms or towers that would have been manned by soldiers. The carvings were of diamond shapes, crosses, one that resembled a tulip and even some that looked like crisscrossed arrows. I snapped photos of each one because I thought they were interesting. Funny the things that people did before they filled their time scrolling the internet!

As we rounded a corner and entered another room I saw something on the wall and it caught my eye because it looked so familiar!! It was a foot!! Other then the fact it was facing in the opposite direction it made me immediately think of Captain Buck’s monument! I even pointed it out to my son. “Hey look! It’s the foot from that stone in Bucksport!”

Like the others it was carved, but this one was outlined in someway and it is most certainly a foot!! Finding it all the way across the ocean, in another country, on the wall of a medieval castle was slightly strange! Could it truly be the symbol of a curse? Could it be something from our history, a universal symbol of some kind, that meant something that we have forgotten? Or could it be some bored soldiers who needed new boots and this was his form of protest? Who knows! I did come home and research Captain Buck’s family history and there is no link to Skipton or the Clifford family that built the castle. So that rules out any connection in that regard.

Whatever it is I did not expect to find it there and honestly I was more unnerved by this foot then I was the ghostly voice from behind me that told me to keep the self guided tour sheets! This foot was just so random. So out of place. Was it a sign just for me? Was it meant to grab my attention because it would be so familiar and if so why? I guess that this goes into the file of creepy unexplained things that keep happening to me! But if you have any thoughts on it, I’d love to hear them!

This summer, if you find yourself out in Sullivan and Franklin exploring the setting of my book (and I’m hearing from people who have trips planned already!), make sure you take some time to drive over to Bucksport and see Captain Buck’s stone for yourself. It’s only 45 minutes away and the town of Bucksport is a great little Maine town! You can also stop in at Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Observatory. I highly recommend that you do!