Demon of the well

Peggy lived at Waddow Hall, a servant maid was she,
And suffered great misfortune such I'd never wished on thee;
First killed and drowned in the well, her ghost was never laid,
And now in every seven years an offering must be made.

Sweet Isabel the landlord's ward upon this New Year's morn,
She went a missing without trace, or so the tale is borne,
The fate they said young William met below the hippin-stones,
The matron's nephew vanished there just seven years ago.

Come follow me, the matron's said, why dost thou loiter so,
And shame that he be cowed by an image made of stone;
Such foolish apprehension, she did say to quell their fears,
For that which hath been dead and rotten for these hundred years

But within the rats and lumber of the cellar down below,
She swung back the hammer and she made the final blow,
Peggy's head fell to the floor, she stood there petrified,
It was then she saw young William, standing there before her eyes.

Avaunt ye now thou senseless thing, be gone from where ye dwell,
For in the deep and darkness lives the Demon of the Well.

But William, he had returned, no river claimed his life,
And Isabel had followed him, to then become his wife;
The unbelieving matron died, from fear, that much is plain,
And was deemed to be a victim, to the wrath of Peggy's manes.

Avaunt ye now thou senseless thing, be gone from where ye dwell,
For in the deep and darkness lives the Demon of the Well.