The cursed chair of the Busby Stoop Inn

The Thirsk Museum, England, hangs the chair of Thomas Busby. The chair hangs on a wall, about five to six feet up, in order to prevent anyone from sitting on it. Legend holds that the chair is cursed, and anyone who dares sit in it will meet an untimely end soon after.

In the summer of 1702, coin-forger Daniel Awety moved to the rural area of Kirby Wiske, where he bought a farm and renamed it ”Danotty Hall”. From there, he would continue his illicit coin-forging business. Awety partnered with his son-in-law, Thomas Busby. Busby, owned a inn just down the road from Danotty Hall he was also a reputed thief as well as a drunk and a bully.

The story goes Busby found Awety sitting in his favorite chair, a heated argument ensued in which Busby kicked Awety out. Awety threatened to take Busbys daughter with him to Danotty Hall. Later that night, Busby snuck into Danotty Hall, murdered Daniel Awety, and hid his body in the woods.

The dissapearance of Awety was suspicious and police organized a search, they found his body and Thomas Busby was arrested and sentenced to death by hanging.

On the day of his execution, a drunken Busby had to be pulled and dragged from his favorite chair. As he was being led to the gallows, he cursed the chair, vowing that anyone who dared sit in it would die a sudden and violent death.

After Busby’s death, the inn was renamed the Busby Stoop Inn.

More than 300 years later, the Busby Stoop Inn still stands and the tale of Busby’s cursed chair continues to dare the foolhardy and fill men’s hearts with fear. When the inn was taken over, the new owners kept Busby’s chair out on display. Stories about the curse, as well as alleged sightings of Busby’s ghost wandering the second floor, drew many curious customers to the inn. Friends stopping by for a drink would dare one another to sit on the chair, though very few did.

But according to several reports and eyewitnesses, those who were brave enough to sit in Busby’s chair all met an untimely demise.