Tiddy Mun
The Tiddy Mun is a Lincolnshire folktale. Said to be an old man no taller than a three-year-old. He had a matted white beard and dressed in grey, so he was difficult to see at dusk. His laugh sounded like the Peewit bird. People believed he could control the waters and the mists. M. C Balfour first documented him in 1891 in the journal Folk-Lore. She recounts a tale told to her in the Ancholme Valley of a curse placed upon the village by the Tiddy Mun who was angered at the drainage works started by Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden. It was said that livestock became sick, milk soured, horses became lame, children unwell and buildings cracked and fell. So terrified of this curse, locals refused to offer any help to the Dutchmen undertaking the drainage works. The Tiddy Mun was said to be placated after the villagers gathered at twilight during a new moon and poured buckets of water into the dykes to apologise for the damage caused. This act was repeated every new moon to keep him happy. This carving of the Tiddy Mun is part of a village trail around the village of Amcotts.
Image and text copyright of the Isle of Axholme and Hatfield Chase Landscape Partnership.
