Ghost
Ippikin's Long Chin
Say the rhyme on the rock, and he answers.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- Limestone crag on a wooded escarpment
- Legend from
- Folk tale, recorded 1881
- Tone
- Chilling
Stand on the rock and call his name. Then mind the drop.
Ippikin's Rock is a crag on Wenlock Edge above Hughley. Burne tells of Ippikin, a robber knight who lived in a cave beneath it with his band and their stolen treasure, until a rockfall sealed them in. His ghost still haunts the rock. If anyone stands on top and shouts 'Ippikin! Ippikin! Keep away with your long chin!', the ghost, wearing a gold chain, will appear and sweep them over the edge. Burne heard the story in 1881, with talk of lights seen near the rock. Wikipedia's Wenlock Edge page gives the same rhyme, and says he buried his ill-gotten gains along the edge.