Jay's Grave

Of all the Dartmoor legends, the legend of Jay's Grave has to be the most popular, and has found its way into almost every guide book.

The story begins back in the late eighteenth century, at around 1790, when an orphaned baby was taken into the Poor House at Newton Abbot. The little girl was named, as was the custom, with the surname beginning the letter the Poor House had progressed to - in this case 'J'. As many of the commoner names had been taken, the baby girl ended up with 'Jay'. In those days the word 'Jay' was also a slang term for a prostitute - so the Christian name Mary was added to the girl's name.

Mary Jay remained at the Wolborough Poor House until her teens, where she supervised the younger children. She was then sent to Canna Farm, which was located outside Manaton, about four miles from Moretonhampstead. Here she was employed as an 'apprentice', which meant she would work both in the house and out in the fields. This was a hard life as the task load was heavy, the days long and the rewards few. A decent meal and warm clothing were luxuries that many of these 'apprentices' learned to live without. It may have been at this farm that Mary Jay got her more famous name 'Kitty'.

Not long after she had been at the farm, Kitty Jay started to receive the attentions of the farmer’s son - possibly a way of obtaining some security and a sense of worth. Sadly, as in many similar cases, she fell pregnant and soon discovered that her meaning of worth was very different to that of the farmer and his wife. They believed she had 'thrown' herself at their son - and with the name of 'Jay', it was no wonder.

Kitty Jay was forced to leave the farm, and left with the reputation as a 'slut'. She knew only too well that once word got around she would never find employment in the area, which left her only prospect to return in disgrace to the Poor House. Tragically, Kitty Jay took the only other option, and was found hanging in one of the barns at Canna.

Jay's Grave, Dartmoor

The custom of the day was that any person who committed suicide could not be buried in consecrated ground. Instead, they were interred at a crossroads, sometimes with a stake driven through their hearts to ensure that the restless soul of the departed could not return to haunt God-fearing mortals. This was the fate of Kitty Jay. She was buried at the intersection of a road and a moorland track. The grave soon became known as 'Jay's Grave' and it did not take long for strange events to start taking place. On certain moonlit nights, a dark figure could be seen kneeling beside the sad little mound with bowed head and its face buried in its hands. Nobody has ever been able to say if the spectral figure was male or female because it was always wrapped in a thick, black cloak.

There are two schools of thought as to who the ghostly apparition is. Some say it is the spirit of one of those responsible for driving Kitty from the farm and others say that it is the soul of the faithless farmer's son who, as punishment, has been sent to stand vigil over the grave of his victim and his unborn child.

The other phenomenon associated with the Kitty's resting place is the daily appearance of fresh flowers on the grave. Nobody is ever seen leaving them but no matter what time of year there are always flowers, posies or greenery sat on the lonely mound. Tradition says that the flowers are the work of the pixies who, out of sympathy, tend the grave throughout eternity.

Author Celia Ann Leaman has written a book based on the story called 'Marys Child' and Moretonhampstead's MED Theatre has created a short film about the legend.

Legends