Temple paused for a moment, to take a puff from a cigarillo, "It was many years ago, that a man named Thomas Vaughan was killed at the Battle of Banbury.  1469, to be precise, whilst supporting the Yorkist cause in the War of the Roses.  Legend says that he was an incredibly evil man, although I suspect that tradition relates me to what happened later than before.  He was named 'Black Vaughan' in any case, though I rather suspect that was for his hair."

Temple paused, taking another puff and he looked between the group to see who was paying attention, "Whatever his state before life, it is believed his restless spirit, sometimes appearing in the form of a large black bull would torment the town of Kington, where his body was buried.  Sometimes, it is reported, his dog would appear as well."

"Eventually, many centuries later, 12 local clergymen along with a number of lay members of the Night Watch came together to put an end to the terror.  There were difficulties.  The spirit was violent.  People were flung across the room causing injuries though thankfully no deaths.  Eventually though the spirit was imprisoned in a silver snuff box.  From there the procession left for Hergest Court, the ancestral hall of the man himself - it is a rather drab and dreary building I must say - and the box was cast into the pond out the back - Hergest pool."

"And for many years, people say the spirit was quiet.  Though of late there has been a story of the bull reappearing.  Perhaps the box was found by an unwary angler and opened -" he opened his own cigarillo case with a snap, "- Or perhaps it was the result of an overactive imagination and too much cider.  Who is to say?"

"Keep an open mind always," he finished, "The world has many strange and frightening legends.  Many are pure fancy.... but some are rooted in terrible truths that sit uneasily with polite and rational society.  When you hear a noise in the dark, make sure you look carefully into the shadows, don't pull your bedclothes over your head and hope it is all in your mind."