Who is Tiddy Mun?

Tiddy Mun

Tiddy Mun was one of the Tiddy people - bog spirits who lived in the marshes, or Carrs, of North Lincolnshire, the Fens of South Lincolnshire, and the fens of the Isle of Ely. They could make the waters rise and fall to help the farmers who they lived in harmony with. They were considered mischievous but benevolent people. Tiddy Mun was described as being as small as a three-year-old, and dressed in grey which made him appear to emerge from the thick, grey mists of the lands. He had long, tangled white hair and beard and his presence was preceded by his laughter which was like the cry of the peewit. His clothing was covered in mud and moss, and he carried a small staff. Those of the Ancholme Valley described the people as “tiddy critturs, no more than a span high, wi’ arms an’ legs as thin as thread, but great big feet an’ hands, an’ heads rollin’ aboot on their shoulders”. If the Fens and Carrs were flooding, before the water reached the villages the people would call out to Tiddy Mun “Tiddy Mun wi’out a name’ tha watter thruff!” – and once they heard the peewit, they knew the water would be drained by the morning.

The Tiddy people were known for dancing by moonlight on large flat stones. These were known as Strangers Stones ‘Strangers’ being another name they were known by in other parts of the country.  It was said that the Tiddy people would smear these stones with blood and light fires on them, but the origin and meaning of this practice is unknown. The people of the lands would leave bread and salt to thank the Tiddy people for managing the waters and allowing for a good harvest.

They coexisted in peace until the 17th century when the Tiddy people were angered by Charles I who employed the Dutch to drain the Fens. This took their home and their heritage away and in return Tiddy Mun brought disease, pestilence and death to the people.

The wetlands that can suck you in and trap you in their murky depths have always held suspicion for the people living by them, and for centuries our lands have been such wetlands. Marshes are wetlands created by flooded rivers noticeable by the reeds and woody shrubs growing from them. Will o’ the wisps are ghostly torches said to lure travellers off the safe paths through the marshes and draw them into their watery graves. Perhaps these are gases created from the fermentation of plant matter inside the soil’s low-oxygen environment, or perhaps our ancestors knew something we don’t.

Sources.

Balfour, M. C. (1891). Legends Of The Cars. Folk-Lore. 2 (2). Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.: 145–170. 

Rudkin, E.H. (1955). Folklore of Lincolnshire: Especially the Low-Lying Areas of Lindsey". Folklore. 66 (4): 393–395.