The vampire of Berwick

A rich merchant, thought to have been a victim of the plague, had been regarded, in life, as a religious man continually carrying out good deeds. However, after his death, his fellow citizens discovered that he had, in fact, led a corrupt, criminal life and he was refused a burial in consecrated ground. Shortly after his funeral, strange and terrible events took place in the town.

The man, having lived a sinful life, was not allowed to rest in his grave, and each night he rose from his tomb in search of human flesh and blood amongst the townsfolk. As he rushed, demented, through the streets, a pack of howling dogs pursued him night after night, their wild baying allowing the citizens no rest. The hounds pursued the vampire back to his tomb as daylight aproached only to renew the hunt as darkness fell.

The tormented spirit was heard to shout,

"Until my body is burnt, you folk of Berwick shall have no peace!"

The people of the town dare not venture out at night as the

"deadly monster ... with a ravenous appetite for human flesh, bent on manner of mischief to the living, biting every person that came in his way and either worrying them to death or driving them stark mad."

Finally it was decided that these events could not be allowed to continue and a meeting was held to decide how to end the vampire's nightly reign of terror. Ten brave young men were either hired or volunteered to exhume the merchant's corpse, dismember the body and burn it until only ashes remained.

The inhabitants had hoped to avert any further tragedies in the town, but shortly after the destruction of the vampire, plague again swept through Berwick, decimating the population. It is said that as the plague victims were carried to their graves, some people still claimed to hear the distant baying of the hounds and the fearful screams of the vampire.