fire legend justkept smouldering

They then resolved to keep it burning in case he tried to get out again.

In another version, the landlord allowed smuggled goods to be traded on the premises so locals would not have to pay the tax.

Excise Men carried out a string of raids but were always spotted by a lookout.

But eventually one hid in some farm buildings until he caught the smugglers.

Then one smuggler came back and struck the officer a fatal blow over the head with a bar stool.

The landlord told his family that the fire was never to go out – so no one would ever search under the hearth for the body.

By the time he died 30 years later, the tradition was established.