There’s a Victorian tale about a Bowdon lady who visited Egypt and brought home a gruesome souvenir; a mummy’s hand. She displayed it proudly in her drawing-room under a glass dome and it was, no doubt, an intriguing conversation piece.

Unfortunately, the real owner of the hand clearly disapproved of its new resting-place and the Victorian lady suffered bad dreams, night after night, until she was quite ill through lack of sleep. Finally, she decided she must be rid of the ghastly object and so, one night, when the rest of Bowdon was in bed, she carried the mummified hand through the town to the old churchyard and reverently dug a small grave for it, with a spoon.

The hand’s original owner must have been satisfied with this attempt at a decent burial, for the Victorian lady rested well after that. And as far as anyone knows, the mummy’s hand rests in Bowdon churchyard still.

Image Copyright David Long and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.