Turning to the dark side of Somerset

Big cats on the loose in Somerset are not just a recent phenomenon.

In his latest book Somerset Tales, author Jack Sweet recounts the story of the night that two lions escaped from separate Somerset "menageries" in 1895.

One was swiftly shot but the other caused panic among the audience as they witnessed it claw the proprietor and head off into the night. Fear quickly spread to the local community but a hunt was mounted by the menagerie's attendants and a large party of villagers who eventually succeeded in capturing the lion.

The book reveals a darker side of this seemingly peaceful county, from highway robberies and early 19th-century witchcraft and murder to the fear of spies and the tragic deaths of local passengers on the Titanic. Farmer Samuel Hermon and his wife Jane, from Castle Cary, were travelling second class on the ill-fated liner, with their twin daughters Alice and Kate and adopted son George Sweet. Sadly Samuel and George did not survive but Jane and her two daughters were rescued from lifeboat 9 and spent the rest of their lives in the United States. Another survivor was the Titanic's Third Officer, Herbert Pitman from Castle Cary. He had been off duty when the ship struck the iceberg. He launched lifeboat 5, rescued by the Carpathia. He continued to serve with the merchant marine after the tragedy and when he retired (to Pitcombe, near Bruton) in 1946, he was awarded the MBE for long and meritorious service at sea during the war.

Among the historical accounts is that of the murder of John Edney, of Cross, near Axbridge, whose young wife was hanged at Ilchester gaol after confessing to poisoning him with arsenic. Sophia Edney, a servant "in a very humble position", was persuaded to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather when she was a 16-year-old, and is believed to have murdered her husband in the hope of being able to marry a young man she had fallen for.

Somerset Tales reveals the extremes people would go to driven by a belief in witchcraft.

In 1871, William Hyam walked into a shop in Bruton and stabbed Ann Green, who he claimed had put a spell on him. He told magistrates that he had heard people say that "if you can draw blood that will stop it".

The book also includes details of skirmishes with poachers and drink-fuelled violence in Shepton Mallet, haunted mansions and illegal coining at Somerton.

Mr Sweet said: "I have always had an interest in history. There are so many stories to be told. It's important to keep the past alive and not let it moulder away. History is full of the lives of kings and queens but I am interested in telling the histories of ordinary folk. I am a Somerset man and this book is the story of my people."

Mr Sweet lives in Yeovil, where he was born. His passion for history has led him to write many articles and books. He joined Yeovil Borough Council when he left the RAF in 1958, where he worked for many years before retiring.

Somerset Tales is published by Amberley Publishing, priced £12.99